Equestrian Strife: The Immortal
by LSCultist
Summary: Equestria has fallen into a new era of disharmony after the passing of the Mane Six over two and a half centuries ago. A civil war has broken out, forcing a stallion and his companions to attempt to survive this wasteland. Will they survive and bring harmony back or will they become another number on the growing list of casualties? (Embedded version, no link folks!)
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"War does not determine who is right, only who is left."

Equestria, a land that was once filled with infinite beauty and glamour. Her contents were filled with rolling green hills and long, winding rivers of clear water. This is where everything and anything lived in what seemed to be an eternal harmony. All those that presided within its borders were happy and even proud to sacrifice anything they could to maintain what was believed back then to be an endless golden age. Even her rulers, two fair Princesses, ruled with a justice for decades upon centuries. They might have even watched over this graceful treasure for a millennium or more! The Princesses did not rule over Equestria for themselves however. Rather, they ruled her for the sake of all those she had taken care of in the past, present, and the future.

Their influence did not just fall past the borders of Equestria but all of the lands that surrounded her as well. Pushing the rest of the world to follow by example and live such as the citizens of Equestria had. Though not all past Equestria's borders enjoyed the exquisite life as an Equestrian citizen, many were still given the chance to make something of their life. All of this was due to the range of diversity that flowed past every bordering mountain and water mass that stood before her majesty, Equestria. It was almost as if this nations uprising and continuity had brought a universal harmony to all of those who lived in that precious time. It seemed that as long as Equestria enjoyed an enlightened age, so too would the rest of the world.

Yet everything must end eventually.

After a long series of catastrophes, ranging from droughts and plagues to riots and wars, Equestria and all those that surrounded her fell into a dark depression. None of this happened at the exact moment of course; but much of it occurred closely together. It was this long series of failures and accidents that brought the slow and painful blow down on Equestria, crippling her and the entire world. All of this brought upon by a simple act of greed.

As the resources of the lands diminished, so too did animosity and patience. With the loss of 'precious'resources came the long and still continuing chain of unfortunate events. Through this all, the harmony that once reigned supreme through the lands would shrivel up more and more until... there was nothing left. The loss of the harmony that had kept the bonds of Equestria together, making her who she was, was the last one that had brought her to her knees. There was no longer a sense of union, pride, glory, or honour for those who still 'lived' in this world. With these losses came the torrent of chaos and destruction that was expected. Moreover, with this chaos came a new era that the world would experience for an untold amount of time. An era of hatred and anger would rise forth, plaguing all of those who still stood against the inevitable. It buried the former glory of Equestria and all her beauty in a flood of fire, pain, ruin, and blood.

In this new era is where all reside in what was once Equestria, unfortunately. There is nowhere to flee, nowhere to escape to from this infinite cloud of death that covers all. Where may one run to in the dream of a better life when a land filled with nothing but poison is better than those that reside around her? Beyond Equestria's borders lies the shambles of what once were her powerful allies. Now only turmoil and a resolute dream of surviving another day is all that resides in the people's hearts and minds. Only pushing the populace deeper and deeper into the deep cataclysm that they had dug for themselves.

Yet, in these dark times rises fools with spontaneous dreams of a brighter and cleaner future. Not for themselves; but rather for others. These people choose this most difficult path and in doing so, accept the depraved life that joins it. However, when the sun rises over Equestria and her neighbors once again, not through thick smoke and dark clouds but through clear skies, all will remember who helped to rebuild the luscious life that we once enjoyed. All will know the sacrifice that these fools gave for a brighter future.

Sometimes heroes can be mistaken for fools...

2


	2. Chapter I: Messages

**Chapter I: Messages**

"Communication is a natural ability you are born with, allowing you to process information through verbal and nonverbal means. Though some are much better at this special trait than others are."

The small grey colt continues to stare blankly at the bowl of hot oatmeal, stirring a spoon slowly through the glop with his horns magical talents. He used the spoon to lift up a glop of the oatmeal and watched with a growing boredom as it slowly dribbled back into the plastic bowl. There was no urge to eat this meal, especially when the meal looked like it would come to life at any second. Only boredom seemed to fill the small grey colt with a swelling that made him feel like he would pop like a balloon if it built up anymore.

"Ugh... I. Am. So. Bored. Why is there nothing to do?" the colt asked, slumping over onto the table with a slight dribble of saliva from his muzzle.

A white hoof fell on top of the colt's own light grey hoof. It nearly covered the entire colt's hoof in that elegant white coat.

"It's quite simple really; I just can't quite understand how you haven't been able to figure it out yet. It's because you're an impatient foal who wants to play outside with nothing in his little belly." the gentle and amazingly smooth voice of the white unicorn mare spoke out.

The colt looked up into the dark green eyes of the mare with his own light blue eyes and pouted as he replied to the mare's words. "I'm not a foal! I'm old enough to have my cutiemark." the colt sat up quickly, knocking the bowl of oatmeal to the floor with a wet sloshing sound.

"Then why don't you have one?" the mare smiled as she encompassed the spilled oatmeal in an aura of blue magic and levitated it back into the plastic bowl.

"'Cuz I'm not outside playin' and exploring and discovering!" the colt yelled out enthusiastically as he jumped on the table and struck a heroic pose.

The mare shook her head and ruffled the colt's pale white mane with a small burst of magic from her horn, enticing a nicker from the colt. "Hey, don't mess with my hair! Jeez, it's like I've got no personal space around this barn house." the colt crossed his hooves over his chest as he sat back in his chair with a snort.

The mare rolled her eyes as she levitated the bowl of oatmeal to the sink in the wooden counter. "Such a diva queen," the mare mumbled to herself "just how did we manage to raise him like this?"

"So... can I go outside and play with my friends now? Pretty please may I, mama?" the colt asked with his best smile.

The mare continued to smile as she walked to the colt and ruffled his mane with a hoof. "You can go now, honey, nothing stopping you anymore."

The colt jumped out of the chair and made a mad dash for the doorway with an ascending level of glee with a great smile. The smile soon turned to a frown though when he suddenly stopped and fell to the ground with a thud. "Hey, why'd ya' do that?!" the colt blurted out in a rising rage as he looked back at the magic holding his short white tail.

"Do what? I don't know what you're talking about?" the mare said, looking to her right and left suspiciously afterwards.

"I know you did it! I wasn't usin' my horn... which only leaves the one other unicorn in the house." the colt bursted angrily.

"Really? I never would have thought of that as a horn, looks more like a bump from something you hit your head on." the mare laughed, turning the colt's face red.

"It's not small! It's just... compact." the colt rubbed his horn with an expression of confusion as he attempted to figure out if she was joking or not

The mare moved his hooves away and kissed the colt's horn with a gentle and loving smile as she stared into his eyes. "I'm just joking honey, now you might want to hurry or your friends will think you're ditching them."

The colt jumped up at this statement and ran quickly to the door that led to the outside world. Opening it and moving to leave but stopped himself before he could. He turned to the mare with a loving smile and said the words that he had so often said before. "Love ya' mum." Leaving the house with a thud and childish scream as his friends jumped out from the nearby forest to frighten him.

"I love you too, son."

The room was dimly lit by the rising sun that attempted to shine its rays of warmth through the thick lead curtains that covered the only window of the dark apartment room. It would take minutes for any normal pony to adjust to this stark lighting. Even then, they would barely be able to see in the darkness that compared to a total blackout of any light. Any normal pony would think there was nothing in this room for them but darkness and emptiness. That all they could ever get from this room is knocking their head against whatever objects that may lay hidden in this abysmal darkness. With nothing to accompany them through the room but dust, mold, and the nothingness that enveloped every inch in the lonely room.

Of course, there was one odd pony that enjoyed this dark and disgruntling room. It might have been since this pony was not your typical pony.

He rose up from the cold stone floor to his hooves quickly, already taking in his surroundings as his mottled grey cloak slipped away from his body. This allowed a brief image of his dark grey coat before the cloak returned to covering his entire body, save for the small view of the grey muzzle that stuck out of the hooded cloak. The stallion yawned with a peculiar lack of sound emanating from the large pony's muzzle. The expression of exhaustion and confusion he held was hidden under the deep hood while he tried to remember what lucid dream had manifested itself once again in his head.

The memories of the dream were quickly lost on his mind though and tortured him as he sought for that same dream in a feverish rage inside his own mind. Soon though, the quest for the dream was abandoned as a groan filled him from inside. He knew what it was; he knew very fondly what it was. It was an urge, an urge that ponykind had been attempting to sedate since the first day of their birth. This urge had driven every single pony since his or her birth to an insatiable madness and rage as they sought what would solve it.

This urge was hunger, the number one plague of ponykind.

"Wake up to these dreams that I don't get to remember one bit and now I get to enjoy this hunger. Fantastic, just fantastic." the stallion mumbled to himself in that heavy baritone voice of his. A voice that demanded respect and fear, two things that it was always rewarded with.

He walked over to a small cloth sack in the corner of the room with incredible agility for his size, able to walk on his heavy hoofs without generating a single sound. When he reached the sack, he opened it up in hope of a great bounty but quickly frowned when he glanced into it. Inside the sack lay only two cans of cram. A "form" of meat that was an excellent choice when you were a nomad with no future of settling down except in the dirt. One of the cans mysteriously began to rise into the air in an aura of dark purple light. The metal ring on top of the can then lifted up. tearing the lid off to reveal the processed meat inside.

"Ugh... to add to the list, now I get to wake up and eat hot cans of cram for my breakfast. What a nutritious life style I get to partake in." he stallion grumbled as he opened the next can after already having swallowed the contents of the previous can of cram.

"You're the one who chose this life." a raspy, leathery voice said from the darkness behind him.

The stallion sighed and turned to the owner of the raspy voice with a disgruntled frown that was. "Already, Bones? You usually don't bother me until I've been awake at least for an hour."

"I got bored waiting for you so I decided to annoy you now." a pony creating its own light through the green fires in between its scarred, old skeleton frame rasped with only incisors for teeth in its skinless jaw.

"You only follow me to annoy me until I do something horribly vile or whatever. So, just be a doll and shut up so I can enjoy my horrible meal of mystery materials." the stallion said as he dropped the cans back into the sack and picked it up in his teeth.

"Aren't ponies herbivores?" Bones asked

"I need a high protein diet; besides: you have nothing but those daggers for teeth so you can't say anything." the stallion spat back as he approached the door that led outside in his mysteriously silent gait.

"No, you need a high calorie diet. You should not even be able to digest that stuff. Normal ponies aren't exactly adapted to eat meats and other products of the same or near the same material."

"Well, I'm not exactly a normal pony so how about you just stay quiet and we continue this magical adventure of starvation, 'cuz starvation is magic..." the stallion growled as another tremor ran through his body. "I need some food to eat before I fall over dead."

"Sounds like a great title to a nationwide broadcasted show, Starvation is Magic! Anything can sound good if you add magic to the end of it." Bones smiled, which was not the friendliest expression since it looked more as if it just wanted to eat you with its mouth of incisors and literal tongue of fire.

"Sure thing buddy, the star will be me. A pony corpse with buzzards picking at his meatless bones because he couldn't even find grass to chew on for a meal." the stallion stopped right at the door and was about to open it when something caught his eye below him. He immediately rolled away, thinking it to be something meant to harm him. Only to give a glance down at it after ending the maneuver, spotting not a lethal trap but a small package with a silver stamp of an olive branch on it.

"Good job, mate, you managed to evade a letter. Feel good now?" Bones asked with that menacing smile as it walked over with a surreal quality that the stallion could not quite place.

"I'll feel good once I figure out just how the hay somepony found this room. Clearly, I have to be more secretive of where I head to now." the stallion frowned as he looked around for anything else he might have missed by chance. He picked up the package after spotting nothing else and looked at the stamp, already knowing who it was. He opened the package to a sheet of paper with writing on it and frowned as he looked at it, still not understanding how somepony had tracked him to here.

"Probably 'cuz you were too tired last night to care for stealth. However, I give you points for how stealthy you still were. A natural born skill for you indeed." Bones answered as if it was somehow reading the stallion's mind... or it had just answered his statement he had recently made. The stallion ignored Bones as he read the paper.

_Meet up at the usual place as you always do. Do not ask how you were tracked, just know that we can and will track you._

_Thank you for your cooperation._

_-O.B._

The stallion dropped the paper on the floor and then ground a hoof into it, destroying most of it. It was clear evidence that this group of people had been able to locate him and pin him for future reference. It was also clear that they were planning to use this against him so that they could have a better advantage against him. Something that this pony did not need for his career.

"So, Rakz, how are you going to deal with this new problem? Do you plan on destroying the apartment and leaving a fake skeleton body for them to think you are dead? Please enlighten me." Bones said with a smirk.

The stallion known as Rakz gave Bones a disgusted look, returning his gaze to the tattered paper as he spoke. "No, I plan on leading them on a false trail and then dealing with whoever thought they could track me. Then, I'll have a nice talk with my "employer"." he opened the door to the outside with his magic as he drew out a long, slender blade out from inside his cloak with his mouth. The hallway outside the apartment was nearly as dark as the room he was poking his head out of except that more light was filtered through the multiple holes in the decrepit structure.

"Ah, the paranoid pony I've come to love. When did you ever leave me?" Bones chuckled

He looked back at Bones for a split second before returning his gaze to any possible dangers in the hallway. When nothing looked to be wrong, he slowly crept out the room and stuck to the far side of the hallway, flattening his body as much as possible as he did so. This would make it easier to evade the gaze of another pony and make himself a harder target to hit.

"Hey, Mr. Stalker, there isn't anypony here." Bones said as it walked to the other end of the hallway.

He stayed silent though as he crept down the hallway, looking deeply into every hole, corner, and shadow he came across. Making the process of trekking the hallway long and boring. The stallion knew not to take his chances however. He never knew if there was a hidden assassin in this hallway or if somepony had left a trap, waiting for him to spring it and die on whatever nefarious way the trap had been designed. He held his breath as he came to the end of the hallway, knowing that this was always where the bad moments struck. The expectation that some pony would jump out and threaten to take his life or a log to come tumbling down to crush him filled his mind.

The breath that was being held was released however when he turned around the corner to find an empty darkness in the stairwell.

"Told you that there was no pony in here, you paranoid little pony." Bones spoke as it slowly dropped down to the steps below him with a faint smile.

"You are quite possibly the creepiest thing I have ever seen in my life." he mumbled as he flipped over the guardrails of the steps down below to where Bones stood. Neatly landing by the strange creature with that odd lack of sound when his hooves met the cold concrete floor.

"I give an eight; you tripped a little on the landing." Bones said with a raised hoof.

He raised an eyebrow at Bones, wishing that he too could have a fabulous life of insanity and mischief as this creature. _Oh, wait; I do have a life like that. Moreover, I hate it with every fiber of my body._ He thought as he walked out of the stairwell into the empty foyer before him.

It was a small room with a desk in the center that was meant to take your money in exchange for a room key. Yet, now it was nothing more than a broken up desk with four bits on top of a note that said I paid for that key. In another section of the small foyer were two windows that were draped with moth eaten curtains, allowing the sun to fill the room with its warm embrace. The only other notable difference was that it was one of the few rooms in the city of Manehattan that had doors attached to it. Sagging and hole filled, but doors nonetheless.

"Have I ever said that I love this city?" Bones asked with that sickening smile.

"May I ask just how you can love this city? It is populated with the worst criminals and everything is either crumbling or already destroyed. It is a giant cesspool of nothing but filth to accumulate so that it can move up and infect the rest of Equestria. It's an infection that needs to be purged in any means possible." he spat back, slamming his hoof down on the desk to provide emphasis.

Bones stared at him with a bored expression for a good ten seconds before giving a short reply to the dark stallion. "You're depressing? Did you know that?"

Rakz snorted and slowly trotted to the door, unsure if there might be further dangers ahead. He opened the door and peeked through it, wincing as the bright sunlight blasted him in the face. He stepped back and let his eyes adjust to the light before giving another peek outside. The only things he noticed that were outside were the common things that were waiting for any pony in this city. It was nothing but cracked roads, sagging buildings with broken in windows, and trash littered everywhere. For some reason, the ponies of Manehattan seemed to enjoy throwing their trash outside into the streets.

"I'd say that's pretty depressing compared to me." Rakz pointed a hoof to the streets before him.

Bones looked out and just shrugged at the sight. "Nah, I still think you're more depressing."

He snorted at Bones remark and opened the door slightly more to allow them access to the streets. They walked out slowly and began the usual routine of looking in both directions for anypony that might be waiting for them or any trap that could be set off by a hoof. In finding none, they began to quickly progress through the streets, giving every window and alley a second glance as they passed it. It all seemed to be moving silently for the two until they passed an alley that echoed with the sound of metal falling on the ground.

"Oh my Goddesses, what was that? I'm so scared, Rakz, hold me." Bones said with a smirk

"Shut up, you're going to startle whoever caused the noise." Rakz whispered as he lowered his body to the ground and slowly crept to the alley, drawing out a long black blade in his mouth as he crept towards it.

"Now you know nobody can hear me. Which is questionable as to why you can hear me? How can you?" Bones asked

Rakz looked back and put a hoof to his mouth, this shushed the creature that was giving him a disgruntled look of displeasure. His attention returned to the alley and he looked in, relaxing when he saw that it was nothing more than a stray cat rummaging in a tin trash can for whatever may lay in it. He stood up and began to walk back towards the road when a heap of garbage flew out in every direction. He dodged a black garbage bag smoothly without breaking his stride and quickly spun around to look at what had caused the disturbance.

A dog with mangy fur and foam seething from its mouth from whatever sickness had taken its toll on the poor animal leaped at the trashcan in the alley. This sickness was most likely what had gave it bloodshot eyes and a rage that would force it to try to kill anything and everything it came across. When it reached the trashcan with a surprising speed, it grabbed the cat still rummaging through the trashcan by the neck in its broken teeth. It quickly spun its head around, breaking the spine of the cat and making it much easier to eat the starved meal the dog had captured.

"Stupid dog, it almost got a nice dosage of steel in it." Rakz mumbled as he attempted to relax while the dog ate.

"If I was you, I would move before the dog decides to try you for a meal." Bones said while walking smoothly away with his back turned to the alley as if a rabies-infested dog was not behind him gulping up a dead cat.

"I'll take your advice." Rakz began walking away with his back to Bones, not trusting that the dog would not attack him with his back to it. It was the right action to maintain as the dog threw the leftovers of the cat to the side of the alley and rose up with a deep growl.

"Too late…" Bones chirped as he walked away.

The dog ran for Rakz, leaping at him when it was five feet from him in an attempt for his throat. The stallion sidestepped easily and then slammed the dog into the ground with his side. He then grabbed it by the throat with his magic and flung it across the road towards Bones with a smile. The dog sailed through the air with a howl as it headed directly towards a turning Bones, enticing a surprised look from the creature as the dog maintained its collision path with it. The dog moved through Bones though, as if Bones was just thin air and landed with a thud on the ground ten feet from it.

"Interesting..." Rakz mumbled as he levitated a broken broom handle from the alley, swishing it around to determine how fast he could swing it. "Come on, pooch, let's play some ball."

The dog stood up and headed directly towards him, completely ignoring Bones as it headed on a suicide path towards the dark stallion. It leaped once again at the five foot marker; but only received a broomstick cracking over its head. The hit knocked it to the ground but did not kill it.

"Come on, Rakz, stop playing with it." Bones said with a frown.

He frowned and drew out the long black blade as the dog made its final run for his throat. It performed the usual motions, jumping for his throat at five feet. Only to have a blade embed deeply into the left eye of the dog as it floated past the stallion with its last breath. It fell to the ground with a thud and slid for a foot before coming to a stop with blood bubbling out from around the blade in its left eye. He walked over to the corpse and pulled the blade out slowly from the beasts eye, then used the small portion of fur on its body to wipe the fluids off of the blade. When he was done cleaning the blade off he sheathed it and heard the creepy voice of Bones speaking.

"You wasted time, buddy ol' pal. The clock is ticking." it said from what seemed like a mile away, prompting him to turn to the creature. It was fading, a very faint skeleton was all that remained as the creature smiled and vanished finally into the air. "The clock is ticking..." were the final words of Bones... for now.

"I'll see you later, Bones, I hope not though." Rakz turned from where Bones had been and began to walk down the cracked, desolated road to where his employer had said to meet him. Possibly for the last time if the circumstances needed it.

The location was a concrete building with almost nothing unique to it except for the graffiti wrote across it. Most of it just relating to: _Die Royals Die, Resist for Peace, _and _We the people fight_. Ponies left this graffiti from when in the past some wanted to display in their cowardice that they did not enjoy the government and how they would take it down. However, action was not an advised move when the graffiti was written with how many military units were located in Manehattan. They were there after all to ensure that the riots did not continue and to make sure that the city was kept under check. _A fabulous job they did there_, Rakz thought to himself.

He walked to a metal door in the center of the blank structure with a slot at the top of it for a pony to peek through without opening the door. It was not much resistance against the military but it was enough to keep the common thief away. He knocked on the door and stood there against his number one rule. Do not let anypony see you. He was forced to break this rule so that the pony that was keeping guard would not think a ghost had knocked and would allow him inside. After a brief minute the slot opened up to reveal a pair of bright green eyes.

"Ah, it's Death's Envoy, just terrific. I hope you did not come here to spread your usual anarchy and chaos, did you? 'Cuz I'd feel bad to put you down." a buck said from the inside of the building.

Rakz chuckled slightly at the thought of this pony trying to stop him from breaking the door down and doing the dark deeds he was known for doing. It seemed to him that that would be a difficult task to stop him. "No, I came here because your boss wanted me to. Now open the door before I do something I'll regret."

The buck stared at him for a few seconds, not knowing what to do until Rakz thumped a hoof against the door. "Oh right, yeah I wouldn't want that. I'll... just open this door."

Rakz smiled as the door opened up to reveal a lightened interior with a brown buck standing guard with what looked like a pump-action shotgun in his mouth. He stood aside as Rakz walked in, giving the dark stallion slightly more room to move in the tight corridor. Normally they frisk visitors, ensuring that they did not have any weapons, but they all knew what would happen if you frisked the Death's Envoy. Another buck had tried this and had, in doing so, been rewarded with a broken leg that certainly was not there when they had started their shift.

"Free to move, DE, just don't cause any more trouble, alright?" the door guard asked nervously.

"Of course, I wouldn't want to start anything I can finish." Rakz smiled slightly under his dark cowl. The buck was unaware however of the mocking smile that hid deep in the shadowy cowl. The buck seemed to return the smile though, weakly and fidgeting, but returned it. Rakz walked away from the door towards a pair of stairs that led to where he was needed. He passed pony after pony in jury-rigged barding. All of the barding consisting of mostly thick clothing to tires in order to _assist_ in absorbing the impact of a high velocity bullet. Each pony had reacted the same to him though, moving away and cringing slightly out of fear and respect. Mostly out of fear though.

_They are afraid I will try something... afraid that if I do I will take them all down as if it was another walk through the park._ He thought

He stopped at a door with a brass plaque on the wall by it that read administration after walking up a long set of stairs. He opened it to a small room with two ponies inside the room, one sitting at an old wooden desk and another one sitting in a chair in front of the door. The pony in the chair was a well-known pony, a lime green pegasus buck named Lime Quarter. He controlled the supplies and trade routes for this group. He sat coolly as the other pony, the important pony, engaged the pegasus in a yelling contest that seemed to only consist of the pony who sat behind the desk.

This pony was an orange unicorn mare named Olive Branch who enjoyed her power to an unnecessary level. Using anypony she could use in the PRP, or the Ponies Resistance for Prosperity, a group of ponies who had for decades fought the Princesses for control over Equestria, to assert her own power and dominance over Manehattan. An act that proved foreboding for the fact that the Royal Order, the Royal Order was the military outfit of the Equestrian government, strongly resisted the PRP's efforts to take the city for themselves. She was able to assert this power though since she was the designated Operations Leader of the Manehattan area by her higher command in the Center.

The Center was where all the high ranking and most important officials of the PRP were located. An undisclosed area that sent information and supplies throughout the modern Equestria with secret channels of communication and transport that the Royal Order have striven so hard to discover. Yet, these channels are the best secret the PRP kept, for if they were discovered it would surely lead to the end of the PRP's cause. Royals would flood in from every city and bring in the officials of the PRP for a public execution. That would be the day that the government would finally achieve the unity it had sought over for so long.

Yet, for now, Rakz was oriented on listening to the two ponies bicker in a faint attempt to learn something he did not already know.

"Lime, where the hay are my shipments? They were supposed to be here yesterday, not today and not tomorrow. Yesterday!" Olive nearly screamed

"I'm sorry ma'am but the shipment was forced to postpone their delivery. There were Royals in the area and the caravan did not want to be discovered. If you want to take it up, please reference to the Royals that are still inspecting the area." Lime said with the slightest of smiles.

Olive seemed to radiate anger at this, barely able to hold back from hitting the pegasus. "Then deal with it. You should have told me this already and I would have sent a force to assault the bastards or at least distract the Royals while the shipment is underway. Now we'll be short of ammunition on the quota."

"I would have but I was swamped with dealing with other issues. Not to mention our forces are stretched thin as it is. We can't continue this fight if you keep sending ponies to their deaths for no reason."

Olive definitely did not enjoy being told that, a clear sign as she swept all the papers off her desk and slammed both hooves down on it. "We have to keep fighting or the people will lose hope. Without us holding back the Royals, we would be hanged already. If you dare to bring that topic up again, I swear that I will have your ass court martialed. Understood?" Lime nodded his head at the threat in the understanding that it was a very likely option from this pony. "Good, now leave, I have business to conclude with a certain pony."

Lime stood up, then saluted to Olive and turned around to leave. When he took a step forward though, he was stopped by the muscular body of Rakz. "Oh, um... sorry, Rakz. I didn't know you were here... um, the major will see you now." Lime said, stepping aside nervously for Rakz to go through.

Rakz nodded to Lime, walking into the office with an air of power around him that even Olive could detect as Lime left and closed the door behind him.

"Ah, my little agent..." Olive was saying

"How the hay did you find me? Tell me now or I'll snap your neck like a twig." Rakz demanded darkly, already surrounding the other unicorn's head in an aura of purple magic.

"Oh, there's no need to do that... I will tell you right away. Just... stop... that." Olive began to gasp as air was cut off to her head.

"Good, I wouldn't want to add you as another number." he let go of his hold, allowing the mare to take a breath before demanding she tell him how she found him.

"It was difficult, I give you that. Yet, we can find anypony with enough time and enough resources. We were able to track you through a spell by one of our best unicorns. She already dropped the spell though, for some reason there was interference in tracking you and she was pushed too much to attempt the spell for any longer than an hour. I don't know where you got a jammer but I'd love to know where. It'd be worth your time if you told me..." Olive was saying slowly as she caught her breath.

"I don't have a jammer, I have no tech whatsoever. Thanks for telling me, though. Now I know how to counteract it and make sure you never find me again. 'Cuz this "business" relationship is now over..." he turned around from a stunned looking Olive and began to leave when she yelled out for him.

"No, wait, don't leave. I need your assistance at least one more time... I'll make sure you get anything you want in my control. Just this one last time." Olive pleaded, almost on the verge of begging.

He chuckled and gave it a slight thought of what he wanted. He thought that he could definitely go for a nice meal before he started anything else. Not to mention, it would be boring to sit around Manehattan with nothing to do. "I want you to destroy anything you have on me and to give me all the details of everything I want. Meaning that I want full access to your database or I quit. Which will also leave you all on your own to deal with your little... 'problems'." Olive stiffened at this, not sure if she could perform this for the stallion. Then she drooped over her desk and stared into the cowl of the dark cloak that he wore. "Fine, it's all yours but only after you get this task done. Understood?" Olive held out her hoof for him to shake in agreement.

He stood there, considering the offer and decided that it really only worked in his favor. He extended his hoof out and shook Olive's outstretched hoof "I expect you to hold your end... you know I will."

"I'll hold my bargain... shall we discuss your details?" Olive inquired

He nodded and took a seat in the chair across from her. She smiled at this and opened a drawer from which she pulled out a vanilla folder. "It's quite a simple task, the usual task actually, but with one little change up."

He raised an eyebrow, wondering if she was trying to play him now. "Tell me about the objectives."

She opened her mouth but closed it before she said anything. She then pushed the folder over to him with a small smile. "Just read it for yourself, you'll find the target a bit... interesting." This caused the stallion to raise his eyebrow even higher. "It's not difficult, I can promise."

He looked down at the folder, sighing as he opened it to reveal two black and white pictures of a buck and a paper under the pictures. He looked at the pictures first, noting that one image was of the buck with badly maintained hair and another of him having close cropped hair with a cloak that hid the rest of his body. "So, how'd you get the pictures? Stalk him just like I was?"

Olive frowned at this remark, telling him to just read it. He smiled faintly at this, knowing it to be true as he read the paper in the folder.

_Name: Latch_

_Age: 33_

_Height: 4'3_

_Eye Colour: Brown_

_Mane/Tail Colour: Blonde_

_Coat Colour: Blonde_

_Race/Sex: Unicorn/Male_

_Cutiemark: A yellow lock_

_Additional descriptive information: The target has closely cropped hair, walks with an odd gait, and has been last spotted with a dark blue cloak that covers all of his body except for his head._

_Additional Information: The target has been last spotted at Mane Street and Boulevard. He is not believed to carry a weapon but this information is not reinforced due to the cloak he wears. He has had no combat experience but is well known as an informant for the PRP. Information on the city and all units of Royal or PRP control are well known to this pony._

_Mission Details: Capture. The target is to be captured, not eliminated, at all stakes. Elimination will result in loss of any previous rewards that had been discussed for this pony to be brought in. Injury to this pony is susceptible as long as it does not have the potential to kill the pony. This mission has no expiration date._

_All additional information may be answered by the pony who commissioned this task._

He looked up at the mare with the knowledge that she was hoping he would kill the target so that there would be no reward available. It would not happen. He had never failed a task before and he was not planning to start anytime soon. Especially if he would be granted full access to the PRP database and have any information known on him burned.

"So, any questions you want to ask me before you go on this buck hunt? If not, get out. I have plenty to do as it is." Olive said with a smirk.

"I have a few about the target. Why is he trying to hide from who he works for and why do you want him alive?"

Olive sat back and stared at the grimy ceiling tiles before answering him. "He was our database archivist. Therefore, he knew everything about the PRP and more. Apparently, the Royals or somepony had contacted him without us knowing and had struck up a deal with him. We want to know what it is that they guaranteed the little shit and we want to make sure that he hasn't told the Royals anything. If he does, all operations in Manehattan may become very bloody for us."

"Sounds pretty serious... so if he fell into the Royals hands, would you have to pack up and leave shop?" he asked while stroking his chin.

"No, we'd have to stay and fight till the last one of us is dead. Which is why we can't let him fall away from us to those damned RO's." Olive sat up and took the folder from him, dropping it back into its drawer. "Complete this and you'll get everything you asked for and maybe more."

"I hope you don't expect me to bring him in tomorrow 'cuz I'm a bit starved at the moment. Plus, I need to acquaint myself with wherever he is hiding. Give me two days or more and you'll have your pony wrapped up like a gift to you." he stood up, already heading for the doorway when Olive called back to him to hold on.

"This is serious, Rakz. If he gets out of our grasp then it means not only the destruction of the PRP in Manehattan and most likely the rest of Equestria but it means the end of you. If that information gets out, every Royal will be looking to blow your face off." Olive stood up to emphasize the point by slamming her hooves down on the table.

"Don't fret about this; I'll get it done before you know it. I also don't have to worry about losing my life... I lost it when I got my cutiemark." he walked out, closing the door silently behind him with magic as he trotted quietly to the small cafeteria in the building while Olive stared forward in confusion from his words. He said he needed to eat and he would, no matter how bad the food was.

The streets of Manehattan were as quiet and empty as they usually were with the exception of the few stray animals that roamed the alleys for a scrap of food to eat in the night air. Some of their searches for food ended in horror though as sometimes an infected animal may be lying in wait for its next meal in the alley as the dog from earlier had. Not to mention the few desperate ponies who would try their chances and eat the stray animals. If they could catch them, of course.

A small dog rummaged through a trash can looking for anything that could be edible in the dented container. It was disrupted though as a shadow fell over it, encompassing the entire mass of the dog. The dog peeked out of the can and stood still as it gazed at a tall creature wrapped in some form of cloth that stood behind it. It was unsure of whether or not if this creature was going to harm it but it knew that it should not take its chances. It quickly ran out of the alley as the tall creature walked out of the alley.

"Damn dogs, they're gonna make somepony peek over here." Rakz said with a frown covered in the shadows of his cowl. He stepped out of the alley but quickly pulled back into the dark depths of it as a voice broke the silence from some point above him.

"It smells horrible in here! Can't you blunder heads make that somewhere else... euch. It smells like an old donkeys fart." a voice said from an open window from above the alley.

"We're here for you, so I expect some tolerance. If not for us, I bet somepony would have already collected ya'." a gruff voice said from the window.

"At least you get some of the meal. Most ponies in this city have to go days before they get to eat a rotten apple. Let alone this MRI that has all of your daily calories in it." another voice said from within the room.

"It doesn't help that it smells horrible when cooked and tastes even worse than the smell. Learn how to make decent food!" the original voice yelled out.

There was a few seconds of silence that was broken by a howl of pain and the sound of flesh hitting flesh. "Shut up before somepony hears you and decides to try their luck. Just 'cuz I'm part of the Royal Order doesn't mean that I like killing ponies. Understood, or do I have to hit you again?" the gruff voiced pony tried to whisper but somehow still managed to talk at a high enough level for Rakz to hear.

_How the hay can one pony talk so loud? I wonder what it sounds like when he yells, probably like a howitzer going off._ He thought to himself

"'Cuz you're so used to the quiet that your ears are like a bats. You could probably hear a pen drop in Canterlot if you strained." a very familiar and creepy voice said in his ear.

He dropped his head with a sigh, wishing that this creature could not read his mind. "Bones, I'm gracious for the compliment but you need to be quiet or somepony will hear us." he whispered through clenched teeth.

Bones seemed to make an attempt to roll its eyes but had apparently forgot that you need eyes to do so. "Haven't we already been over this? Nopony but you, for some odd reason I could really care less for, can hear me. You just don't enjoy my voice."

"Of course I don't like your voice! It sounds like Armageddon is about to happen." he hissed

Bones seemed to smile at this and stood up as proudly as it could. "I enjoy my voice for its horror."

Rakz rolled his eyes since he did indeed have eyes and looked back to the window above him. A sandstone yellow pony stared out the window shortly before one of the owners of the other voices dragged him out of Rakz's view. Most likely the host of the gruff pony's voice.

"So there are already Royals there but it doesn't seem like they're trying to get something. More like they're waiting for somepony. Which means that there will be more ponies flooding in at any second to pick Latch up for interrogation or whatever he promised to do in return for what they gave him." he spoke softly to the skeleton with eldritch fire flowing through it.

"Good observation... so, you gonna kill them all now?" Bones asked excitedly.

"Not if I don't have to... I don't like killing just like that gruff pony doesn't like to either. If I can get them to surrender then that would make my day just a tad bit better."

"You know you can't, they'll report you in and then there will be Royals looking for you and Latch. Which will only result in more and more death. You have to kill those two." Bones walked towards the window and climbed the fire escape that led up. "You going to wait there and look pretty or are you going to finish this?"

Rakz looked down as he slowly moved to the fire escape, climbing up the rusty ladder as Bones dropped down to the ground without emitting a noise from its bony hooves. He stopped just under the window and pulled out his long black blade with his mouth, already preparing for the two murders he would have to commit.

"Don't think of it as murder, think of it as just organizing the chaos. Otherwise, you might go insane... er." Bones rasped from below

He would think of it as murder anyways, for taking another life is not just ending it. It is much more than that. It is snuffing out what that life could have been. It was always murder to him, even if he killed in self-defense. It was how he had always remembered and it was what he would maintain as long as his sanity held. Murder was after all one of the worst crimes to commit, whether legally or morally it did not matter. That idea is what had kept him from becoming the monsters that roam the streets today that look for another pony to murder for fun instead of justice. Yet, every murder he commits has plagued him to this day. No matter how he had committed it.

"Milo, go over and close that window so that we can talk in silence." the gruff voice ordered.

A bluish-grey pony walked into the view of Rakz and grabbed the bottom of the window just as he looked down.

"Sorry, Milo." Rakz whispered quickly as he jumped up and slipped the long blade through the throat of Milo, cutting the carotid and the jugular all at the same time. Milo's blood spurted out in a quick burst under Rakz's hood, covering his face partially in crimson. He did not mind though and in fact, he accepted it. As it would remind him of what he had committed in this room.

He jumped through the window deftly with his blade already floating forward in the magical grasp of his horn towards what he saw as the most dangerous even before Milo understood he was dead. The blade bit deeply into the side of the other Royal Order pony's throat, spraying his blood across the wall and floor just as Milo fell to the ground with a wet splash.

"What the... ack!" the gruff pony screamed out before his eyes hazed over and he joined his companion on the tiled floor.

Rakz turned to the sandstone yellow pony known as Latch with a great frown hidden under his cowl as he floated the bloody knife under Latch's throat as well. "Sorry you had to see that but I couldn't have them becoming a disturbance. You know how it is with those pesky Royal ponies." he said cheerfully even though there were two dead ponies sitting in a puddle of their own blood not but a foot away from him.

Latch seemed to sit there quietly before comprehending that his two guards were dead. Pulling back from the blade with a scream as he stared at the darkly cloaked pony in front of him that looked more like the reaper pony itself to him.

"Don't do that, or I'll have to empty you." Rakz hissed while he pulled Latch forward with magic and pushed the blade into the unicorn's throat. "Now don't move or something might slip... are we on the same level?"

Latch just stared at the cloaked pony with an open mouth, trying to scream but unable to manage any noise louder than a choked gasp as the blade bit deeper into his throat. Drawing a thin bead of blood, he finally comprehended that Rakz had asked him a question. He responded by slowly nodding his head.

"Good, now before I do anything else, how about I acquaint you with whom I am..." Rakz was saying.

"Y-y-your Death's Envoy... the Death's Envoy. Also known as Rakz Baylor... how the hay did I get in this situation?" Latch stuttered in a fear that was clear as he urinated in the chair he sat in.

"One, that is really weak... two, I'm glad you finished what I was going to say." Rakz said as he drew out a chair and sat in it across from Latch.

"Oh Goddesses, please don't kill me. I've done nothing wrong!" Latch stammered nervously

Rakz drew the blade from him and slapped the flat edge across his face, leaving a dark smear of blood on Latch's cheek. "Didn't do anything wrong? How could you have done nothing wrong? You did everything wrong!" he hissed in a rising rage

"I didn't mean it, honestly. I was just trying to..." Latch was interrupted as the blade slapped him once again and then returned to his throat.

"Trying to do what, survive? 'Cuz what I do is survive. What you were going to do is live in luxury at the cost of thousands if not millions of ponies lives. You selfish little... I should just kill you now and save myself the time." Rakz emphasized the point by grabbing the blade in his mouth and dragging it slowly across Latch's throat, drawing another bead of blood across his throat.

"I didn't know that would happen! I was pressured into doing this... oh Celestia, don't kill me!" Latch cried in utter fear

"Shut the fuck up! What's to stop me from killing you? Hmm, my conscience? My morals? 'Cuz I'll tell you right now, I don't have any of that. I am the monster that haunts your very fucking nightmares!" Rakz yelled out in total rage in the face of Latch. "I won't kill you if you tell me just why the hay you did this: and maybe than I'll feel like pitying you."

Latch sniffled and looked into Rakz's dark cowl with terrified eyes. "I-I didn't want to do it but... then somepony told me it would make everything better. That if I talked to the Royals maybe I could end this silly war..."

Rakz pulled back his hood with a hoof, revealing a dashing stallion, minus the strip of blood that covered half of his face, with a swept charcoal mane that held a trace of grey running through it just above from where his dark blue eyes stared into the terrified, uncomprehending, brown eyes of Latch. "What?! How the hay would that end the war? It would just escalate it! You thought telling them whatever you know would make everybody all peaceful and happy? It won't, it would only kill an uncountable amount of ponies. Is that what you wanted? To know that you personally snuffed out a million lives because of your selfish acts?"

Latch began to breathe deeply as the blade edged itself slightly into the cut on his throat. "agh... p-please could y-you let go of the k-knife?"

Rakz pulled the blade slightly away but compensated for this small act of mercy by slamming a hoof into the side of Latch's head with a savage grin. "Does that feel better? Answer my fucking question!"

Latch coughed up blood and shook his head as if to get rid of the pain in his head. "It'd end the war... there would be no PRP left to fight. Thus, no more revolution and life would start over. Everything would be normal just like Gail said." he said this with slightly glazed over eyes, clearly just saying whatever came to his mind in a delirious state.

Rakz was about to strike him again but pulled back when he heard the name Gail. "Gail? Who is Gail?"

Latch was beginning to slump over but he still managed to speak. "Gail... he's the pony who I contacted with questions. In the Office of International Peace and Affairs... special agent Gail. He's the pony who I contacted." he began to repeat

Rakz's savage grin turned to a frown and he began to shake the other unicorn in a vain attempt to keep him conscious. "Latch... Latch! Do not quit on me now, I need to know more about this Gail pony. How'd you contact him? How?" Rakz began to scream.

It was too late; Latch was already out by the time that Rakz began to slap him around. "Wake... up... damn... it!" with every word he said came a harsh slap to the sandstone yellow pony.

"Rakz... there's no sense in beating him if he refuses to wake up. You got all the information you could get, it's simply time to leave. Olive is waiting." Bones said from behind him.

He turned to the creature with a sigh, knowing that for once Bones had been right. "Let's go before anypony else stops by... should I just leave the bodies?" he asked as he pointed to the bodies on the floor whose blood had spread through the entire room, forcing him to step in the sticky fluid.

"There's nothing you can do for them, just take Latch and we'll see what chaos ensues... hopefully the good kind of chaos." Bones rasped as it jumped through the window with its creepy smile.

He grabbed Latch in a field of magic and levitated him out the window where he was lowered gently to the ground below. He then jumped out the window himself and stopped himself just above the ground with self-levitation. It was not too hard to begin the spell since all he had to do was stop himself gradually by encompassing his body in a field of magic; but holding yourself in a field of magic was where it got difficult. It was not clear why it was a difficult task for unicorns to perform this but it was clear that one should not attempt to use it very often. He was an extraordinarily powerful unicorn but even he could only hold himself up for a minute at most; and that was if he was just floating still.

He dropped lightly to the ground and grabbed the unconscious unicorn with his levitation, beginning his walk in the direction of what he knew was the PRP headquarters. It was not their destination yet, no, he was going to find out what Latch knew before hoof. It was a long walk to take, taking over an hour to get to the building. It would be comforting for the unicorn, however. Keeping his mind concentrated on levitating the other unicorn instead of thoughts of how he had just left two bloody corpses in a house for the flies to eat.

"So, what do you think of this Gail character?" Bones asked in order to pass the time.

He turned to it with his hood back up, hiding the sneer he had underneath the deep cowl. "I don't like him, the way that Latch put it; it sounds like this Gail thinks he can stop the war through the death of millions."

Bones smiled that scary smile of its, showing that it believed that death _was_ the right answer to war. "Do you think it's the answer?"

"No..." he answered immediately. _At least I don't think it's the answer,_ He thought to himself.

(Authors Note: Hope you all enjoyed the revised version of Equestrian Strife. Inspiration goes to Kkat, the cool author who created FoE, and to Somber for his awesome work in Project Horizons that has pushed me to work harder and to think out of the box. Remember to leave feedback and sorry if you found a few grammar errors or anything else. Editors are _not_ cheap.)

(Also, do not forget to check out my page on Facebook, Equestrian Strife. The link is provided on the Table of Contents page so what are you waiting for? Go and look at it! Here, I'll even throw some details at you to grab your attention. You can look at it for info, pictures, and more! What is there to _not_ like about more?)

(Did I mention that I need an editor by any chance? So, if you are looking to become my editor(s), just ask me over a message and we'll see if you have what it takes to edit these stories. Credit will of course, go majorly to you for the editing. I am looking for at least two to three to take over the position. So, don't feel shy, just give it a shot. I promise that I do not bite.)

16


	3. Chapter II: Trust

Chapter II: Trust

"When all the truth does is make your heart ache, sometimes a lie is easier to take."

Rakz walked through the dark streets with his usual silent gait. Breathing ever so slightly as he carried Latch in his magical embrace. He would have to figure out what Latch knew about this Gail figure before he could leave him in the grasp of Olive Branch. A pony he trusted about as much as he trusted Bones to make a sound and perfectly sane plan. Which in Rakz's days had never occurred as long as he could remember.

"Now, I've made good plans... you just say differently." Bones rasped next to him.

"No, you don't. All your plans consist of causing mass anarchy and to kill everything that moves. How the hay is that a good plan?" Rakz asked, Bones looked away however and ignored his question. "Yeah, I can see that you're being so mature about this. Ignoring me is not a very good way to prove I'm wrong. Which I'm not, 'cuz your plans are horrid." Bones looked at him, was about to say something but stopped himself before he could say it.

"As I thought... you know what, I like this Bones better. Stays quiet as he should. Why, if this keeps up I think today might be the best day ever!" he almost yelled out as he skipped across the road, still not making a noise with every skip he took.

This continued for a few minutes before Bones broke the silence with his ever so cheery voice. "Where do you plan on doing this interrogation of yours? Last time I remember, you had no place safe to hide due to a very tricky mare."

Rakz looked at Bones with a small smile that was hidden under his cowl. "I always have a nice little place to settle down in. How could I have gone living for so long in this city if I had just one safe house?"

"What was that?" Bones asked

"What was what?" Rakz asked as he looked around for something out of the ordinary.

"What was with the emphasis on 'little'? I want to know why you did that."

Rakz looked innocently at Bones. "I don't know what youre talking about, 'cuz I definitely didn't tell you where we were going would be little."

"I don't like little, little means confined spaces and confined spaces means no pony wants to be there... well, except you." Bones pointed a hoof at him.

"Why do you not like a place without a trace of life?"

"Because that means there will be no chaos or anarchy... which is why I follow you. You're like the very epitaph of discord in pony form."

Rakz stepped back from Bones with a shocked look. "How dare you! I am not the very epitaph of discord..."

"I know you're not, that's why I said you're like the very epitaph of discord... in pony form."

He looked at the creature with a shocked look but couldn't maintain it. Dropping it and just chuckling at the creature. "Eh, it's not my fault that chaos seems to follow me everywhere I go. I don't mean to cause it-it just... happens."

Bones nodded at this as if acting like his therapist. "Now that you told me what your 'problem' is, how about you tell me where they touched you? Did they touch you there?" Bones pointed to his nethers.

Rakz's face quickly turned red as he moved his legs to cover his nethers. "What?! What the hay are you talking about? No pony touched me you crazy weirdo!"

Bones just nodded some more, walking away from him. "That's what they all say."

Rakz stood there, staring in confusion as the eldritch fire filled creature trotted slowly away. "What the hay is wrong with that thing?" he asked no pony in particular.

He quickly caught up to the creature as they walked towards one of his many safe houses to dump Latch off for the interrogation to begin afterwards. Rakz didn't really think it would be a interrogation though, more of getting an answer to every question as the yellow unicorn wet himself in some silly sense of fear. This would be quite possibly the easiest squeezing of information that Rakz would have ever performed.

Latch woke up groggily, lifting his head to see what surrounded him. Only to be revoked his privilege to see by the claustrophobic darkness that surrounded him. Causing him to begin to breathe deeply as he tried to think of the darkness as not suffocating but enlightening. This only worked for a few more seconds before he began to scream hysterically. It quickly ended though as something smacked him across the face.

"Holy Goddesses, I'm glad that's over. It was quite the nuisance to hear you scream for... hell, if I know, why the hay were you screaming?" the darkness seemed to ask Latch.

Latch responded by beginning to babble nonsense. Muttering that the darkness was going to eat him and that the world was after him and him only. This ended quickly though as the same object struck him across the face.

"Seriously, shut up. It's getting on my nerves and I don't want to slip and kill you because I didn't want your annoying sounds to plague me. That'd really bum me out."

Latch looked around for the source of the talking but felt as if the entire room of darkness was talking to him. Threatening to devour him whole. He opened his mouth to scream or babble or both when the object struck him again.

"I'm serious, if you make another noise I don't like, I will kill you. Understood?"

Latch nodded his head with extreme enthusiasm. At this point though he would probably agree to eating the flesh of another pony as long as he didn't have to deal with this darkness anymore.

"Great, I'm glad you can understand me. Now, I'm going to remove your blindfold, if you scream, I'll put it back on. Same thing if you babble... so be a nice pony and shut up. I'm removing it now..."

The darkness fell to, well, the same level of darkness as a strip of cloth was removed from his eyes. Latch began to panic again but was reminded of what the consequences would be as something cold slid under his throat.

"Don't... I told you once already-which means that this is your final chance."

Latch swallowed, closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to stare at the darkness. He opened his mouth to speak but was only able to say a few garbled words before choking up on them. "I... I... t-t-thou..."

A light suddenly appeared, illuminating a dark grey face with a purple glowing horn above his jet black hair. "Happy, now? Cuz I'd rather not have to deal with getting answers like... that." Rakz said in reference to the garbled speech that Latch had given.

"W-where am I? W-who are you? What's going on? Am I..." Latch howled as his senses bursted into pain with the strike of a hoof against his head.

"I'm saddened that you already forgot who I am but it is for the best. As to all of those fear filled questions, I'll answer them all shortly... no." Rakz said simply

Latch stared at the dark unicorn with a look of fear and confusion. "N-no? What is that supposed to mean?"

"No, it is a two letter word that means to reject, refuse, and to deny. How are you a archivist if you don't even know such a simple word?"

"I-I mean, why'd you say no?"

"'Cuz I'm not going to answer any of those first three questions. I will answer one question though."

"What question is that?" Latch asked weakly

"Wrong question, you were supposed to ask what I wanted. So, are you going to ask the question?" Rakz said with the influence of his knife petting the top of Latch's head gently; which received a nod from Latch. There was a silence for a few seconds before Rakz's left eye twitched and he struck the yellow pony once again. "So ask the question!"

"What d-do... you w-want?" Latch shook as he let out the small amount of urine he had built up while unconscious.

Rakz smiled, which only deepened Latch's fear instead of making him feel safer. "I want a better world. A world where justice is served to those who have done wrong. Not this, where ponies like you think you can just get away and live in luxury for your crimes."

"I-I didn't mean anything wrong..." Latch howled as he was struck once again.

"We've already been over this and I already explained my part. So let's not repeat anymore, shall we?"

Latch nodded shakily, crying silently as Rakz leaned in. "Who is Gail?"

Latch stammered the next few words in great fear. "I don't know..."

Rakz bent his hoof back for another hit but stopped when he saw that the other pony was telling the truth. "Alright, you get a free one for that... I wouldn't want to throttle your brain any more than I already have. So, let's start off a bit more peacefully. Try to remember who Gail might be."

Latch looked around himself, trying to find a way out but didn't understand that he couldn't escape the bonds of rope that held him through simple struggling. "I-I can't... I can't remember... just, please let me go. I promise not to tell anypony about this..." Latch cried cowardly

Rakz rubbed the middle in between his eyes, trying to think of ways to make the yellow pony remember who Gail was. "Latch, I need you to remember. If you don't, a lot of ponies are going to be hurt. Do you remember telling me that somepony had contacted you and asked you to do something for them? Something that would cost a lot of lives but end the war?"

Latch shook for a few seconds but looked up to Rakz with a hardened look. "Yes, I remember telling you that... that somepony had contacted me, asking me if I could provide any and all the information I knew. They said that in doing so, I would be removed from this struggle and put into the luxury that Canterlot ponies enjoyed... but, I said no. I said that I would not risk millions of lives for myself. So... he said something else-that me talking would end the war, saving millions."

"Did he tell you that it would also cost lives? That talking may kill more than save?"

"I... don't know... wait, yes I do, yes... he told me that my actions would kill but that doing so: I would save all of Equestria. Not just in the present but in the future also. I would become a hero to be written down in history... I didn't care though, I just wanted to end the war. I was so tired of seeing and hearing others suffer. I was tired of seeing other ponies standby while there were those out there who needed help!"

Rakz stared at the pony before him not as a genocidal opportunist but as a corrupted hero who just wanted to see the world as a better place. He was still corrupt though; but that just meant that somepony else was behind this. Somepony had pressured him into doing what he did as Latch had explained to him earlier. "Latch, you said that somepony pressured you into doing this? Was it this pony who contacted you or somepony else? I need to know so I can make the world better."

"Yes, I did say that didn't I? It was somepony in the PRP... they had been talking about how to end this war. I thought that they were just acting out of rage because a superior or somepony had made them angry somehow. So, I just let them slide. Then... then three ponies cornered me and... and..." Latch stopped suddenly, looking around frantically as if there was a group of ponies waiting to beat him in the darkness.

"Latch, do you remember these ponies? Any of them at all? I'll fix what they had done, I promise."

Latch refused to talk any further though, only shaking in his restraints.

"Hey, come on, I need you to tell me who did this! Don't break down now when we've gotten so far, so easily!"

Latch only continued his previous shaking, it was quite perturbing to the taller unicorn. As he did not understand why Latch broke so easily, retreating back to the depths of his mind where his body would take control of itself with instincts. Spasming and resisting anything in the outside world as if everything was a disease to his body. If it was the old war, when everything was bright and cheerful, there would have been no reason for this. However, the new world had arrived long ago and had left its effects on all who had prevailed in surviving it. Rakz knew there was no use in wasting any of his energy on questioning the buck anymore while he was in this state.

"So, you going to give him to Olive now or are you going to do what I think you're doing; and be the hero of the day. Releasing him to be on his own." Bones said dryly from behind him.

Rakz looked down, knowing he couldn't release Latch no matter how much he wanted to. He would most likely be swept up by the Royals again or just captured by the PRP anyways. Though, his chances to just die from other causes were still high with him being in Manehattan and all. He would have to turn the pony in to the PRP. As much as he frowned upon it, this was the only logical choice to him. Latch would never survive out there by himself.

"You're doing the right thing..." Bones began to say

"No, I'm killing somepony who had the goal to save the land he loves." Rakz mumbled quietly

"A-are you going to let me go now? I told you e-everything I know... I promise you. I don't remember who this Gail is or anything else... just please l-let me go." Latch said weakly

Of course, if I killed him, no pony would get him but the reaper. Nopony else could hurt him for his noble, but foolish, cause. I would hate myself forever for doing it but it's nothing I'm not used to. I-I'm sorry, Latch. I have to... for your sake. Rakz thought darkly to himself

"I-I can't let you go... your life would end in somepony's hooves no matter what or you would cost the lives of millions... I'm sorry, Latch. I truly am... if it helps any, I believe that you are a hero... your ways were twisted but I think you are a hero nonetheless." Rakz drew a long blade out as he stared into the brown, teary eyes of Latch.

"N-no... you don't have to do this! I won't say anything and... a-and nopony will ever see me again. J-just please don't do that... oh, Goddesses please don't do that." Latch cried, snot bubbling up from his nostrils as he watched the purple light glint off the blade.

"I do not wish to kill you but I must for your own safety and the safety of millions. I would be happy if you accepted your fate with your last words before I... do this." Rakz said with his head down.

"I-I don't want to accept it though... I don't want to die! Please, don't kill me... I'm afraid! I'm afraid of what is beyond life, of what I will see and experience, of who I may be in the afterlife."

"We all must experience death sooner or later... it is the common cycle of life. Fear is normal, if not proper of the great beyond that awaits us on the other end of life. You will soon come to know though that there is nothing to fear after death... I hear it is quite peaceful." Rakz said without any outer emotions showing on his face from the conflicting war of emotions that continued to rage on inside his head.

Latch stopped crying, looking into Rakz's eyes with an expression of fear... and acceptance. "I don't want to accept my fate but... you are right. I have no choice of when, where, or how I die. As a pony once said, one must pay for his sins. I guess I will be paying for my sins then, won't I?"

Rakz grew stiff at these words, a memory of a dream or something clawed itself into his conscience. Forcing his vision of the darkness, the blade, and of the terrified Latch into the deepest part of his mind. Only to be replaced by another scene of darkness in what appeared to be a forest in the night. Rakz succumbed to the feeling, allowing this memory to take hold of him.

A strange feeling filled Rakz as his mind receded from his body and filled another pony's body. This body being a unicorn buck as he is but almost half the size of him. He noticed immediately that this... colt seemed to be staring at another pony through the dark forest. Watching as the other pony came into clear view and turned their eyes to Rakz's host. Bringing about a small smile from the other pony.

"Ah, there you are little one. Please, can you come over here so that I don't have to talk so loud?" the other pony said in a scarred and weathered voice.

Rakz's host trotted over to the unicorn with the sound of brush being pushed around him. He was finally able to make out a description of the other pony, a pony that struck a strange cord in his body for some reason. The other pony was a unicorn buck with a black coat that complimented his colour matching mane and tail. His eyes were an oddity though, being a dull orange that seemed to have nothing behind it that clashed with the darker colours. Rakz attempted to discern the dark unicorn's cutiemark but was unable to due to the black cape that sat over their flank.

"I'm glad to see that I found you-I'd say you have a nice knack for stealth... sadly, though, I could detect your life force." the other pony said with a knock of his hoof on his horn. "Don't forget your lessons... they will teach you forever."

"Black Watch... why don't you teach me any spells?" the colt he was in asked with a small voice.

Black Watch drooped with a sigh, looking into the colt's eyes with those odd orange eyes. "You're not ready... far too young. Hell, I didn't even teach Shadowsky anything I taught you and he was twice your age!"

"Oh, come on... I can handle it! I've shown more magic expertise than even you did at my age. You've said it yourself. It doesn't have to be big either... just any spell." the colt smiled.

"Sit down, little one, let me tell you why I won't teach the spells I know." Black Watch said while on a large log, patting the spot near him for the colt to sit on.

The colt sat on the spot Black Watch had indicated with an interested look, clearly wanting to know why Black Watch wouldn't teach him his spells.

"As you know, there are many, many, many spells. I don't actually think there is a limit since somepony always finds a new spell to garden their lawn or to make themselves appear better looking every day. It's an endless struggle of knowledge. Yet, there are more than those harmless spells, there are others. These forms of magic are categorised under many names but some, that some being mainly me, like to call these magics elemental magics and... dark magics."

"I don't know much about elementals besides that I'm horrible with them. This little horn seems to laugh at me if I try to make something heat up or manipulate the air. I can do it... just... not very well or for long. See, that is why I have this cutiemark I have though." Black Watch lifted up his cape, pointing to the cutiemark of a pony skull. "I'm talented in those... dark magics I spoke of."

"What do you mean by dark magics?" the colt asked

Black Watch grimaced, trying to think of a way to tell his "apprentice" the best way possible for him to understand what dark magics were. "Well, dark magics are... well dark. They use a part of a unicorn that is dark, where all our fears, nightmares, sins, and corrupted thoughts reside. As long as we fuel this dark area we technically can use a spell forever... but only the worst of ponies are able to manage this. For to have infinite dark magic is to be the worst pony there is, taking pride and a sadistic joy in what you do. Dark magic is evil and corrupt, only able to hurt. It has no other purposes unlike other forms of magic. It can't serve any other purposes for the dark side of a pony can only hurt. One infamous character that was able to do this was that King Sombra I'd told you about."

"So, what can you do with this dark side? What kind of spells can you perform?" the colt asked with a new enthusiasm.

Black Watch bit his lip before standing up and looking into the colt's eyes with a small hint of dread. "Do you really want to know, little one? For to perform this spell I must... use the darkness in my soul-something I have not done in a long time."

The colt looked down, understanding the damage of bringing up memories that only caused pain. He nodded grimly to his master.

"As you wish, little one, I shall demonstrate why dark magic, of all magics, is the worst magic. Please step back, as I may be rusty in it after so long of keeping it within."

The colt stepped back as Black Watch's horn glowed a dark purple that was barely noticeable. Then the purple darkened even further into a blackish colour and made a form of light that proved to defy logic, illuminating the surrounding area in this dark light. The air around Watch began to tremble, moving to his demands as it coiled in dark purple and vile green wisps around the pony. Then the wisps dug into Watch, causing him to gasp as the purple and green withdrew to hold an orb of light that sparkled all the colours of the rainbow. It seemed as if the colour orange stood out the most of this orb.

"W-watch... and learn, little one." Black Watch said in clear pain as the wisps dug into the ground, causing the black soil to tremble and rise. Then the ground exploded apart as a rotted hoof dug its way out of the ground and stood on its wobbly legs to stare at Black Watch with its hazed over eyes.

"W-what is that? I-is it dead?" the colt stammered

Watcher turned to the colt with a sad smile. "This... is an inanis dormis: otherwise known as a zombie, or even as a zombler as some fools would say. Using the soul of a pony you are able to raise another dead pony to join you. Fighting until the host body is completely destroyed, releasing the soul from its prison to join its fellows in the afterlife. Unfortunately, the process of raising these are the cost of another's life. It is a very painful process... a process I had felt myself."

The colt's eyes grew big as he stared at his master. "Y-you mean that y-your..."

"Yes, little one, I am a walking corpse as this one is. Except, I had willingly had my soul ripped apart and inserted into the same body it had dispersed from. Creating a stasis that keeps my body at the same age no matter what. Unfortunately, my body is not nearly as strong as it once was and I am not able to do as much as I used to be after the... "process". Not to mention some of my memories seem to be distorted and altered through the ages I have survived. It is not a pleasant experience to be what you have crafted for over two and a half centuries."

"Now do you understand, little one? Do you understand what horrors await you if you confront your dark side and use it to your advantage? The dark side is to not be tampered with, this is what your training is for. To not train you to use it but to resist it. For if you let it control you too much... you may find yourself overwhelmed by its urges and forced to satisfy the sins it demands from you. The dark side of me has only caused me to sin and destroy."

"And when you sin my little pony, you must always pay for it."

The world returned slowly to Rakz as the memory faded away. The room becoming a intangible void of darkness that refused to give even this stallion sight. He found himself sitting on his haunches when a voice broke the silence from behind him.

"How was the dream walk? I hope it was enjoyable 'cuz Latch got away." Bones rasped

Rakz stood up quickly, lighting the area around him in a purple glow from his horn. Instead of a pony being tied to a chair in front of him, there was an empty chair with cut up ropes lying on it. By the chair laid his long blade he had been using on the other pony.

"He used his magic to cut himself free and escape while you were daydreaming."

Rakz picked the chair up in a magical embrace and hurled it against the wall. Shattering the chair into a million splinters on impact. He picked his knife up and immediately headed for the door that led out, muttering how that fool just screwed up beyond comprehension.

"What did you expect? You were going to kill him and he already told you that he didn't want to die. Did you just expect him to just sit patiently while you went through whatever the hay just happened to you?"

Rakz spun to Bones with a face contorted in rage. "He's going to get captured and kill millions. He was only thinking about himself... I was thinking about him-how I could make his life better!" he yelled

Bones shook his head with a smile. "You were thinking about making his life better by murdering him? I like to think that for every murder you commit, my life gets better; I sincerely doubt that killing him was the best choice."

"It was and is the best choice, otherwise he would be tortured by those he worked for or be captured by the Royals and used to kill millions. Better yet, he'll probably just die anyways. Manehattan isn't exactly safe to trot around in with it being the center of crime in Equestria." Rakz stormed out the door into a small room with nothing at all in it but the walls, floor, and roof.

"Rakz, you just have to accept that unlike you, others don't want to die. Now he left not but what, five maybe eight minutes ago? You can still find him and do whatever you want with him." Bones rasped as it followed the dark stallion out of the room into the dark streets of the night.

Rakz looked around pensively as he stood still, looking for any sign of where Latch might have been headed. He quickly spotted what looked to be dried spots of blood that were dotted on the road here and there. They headed north, where the Royals were stationed. "That son of a bitch, even after I tell him the consequences, he still goes to the Royals. I'm gonna make sure I hammer it in his stubborn head before I gouge his eye balls out."

"I'd love to see that. It's been awhile since I've seen you do a slow kill... always gets me going." Bones said excitedly

Rakz began running, following the trail of blood, looking in every alley in case of a hidden danger as he did so. Soon enough he found himself staring at a blank strip of road. He had lost the trail. Somehow Latch had healed his wound and had, in doing so, lost his predator for the moment. He looked around for anything that might have given Latch away while he ran but found none.

"How the hay did you get away? You never had any combat experiences so you couldn't have known how to lose somepony-so how did you lose me?"

He was stopped from pondering the question though when voices broke the silence of the night. Forcing him to go into the nearest alley and wait in the shadows for the ponies speaking to leave.

"So, what are we gonna do?" a mare asked

"Were going to do what we were told and then were gonna get our reward." a buck responded

"No, I mean what are we even going to ask for a reward. You accepted it so fast that you didn't even discuss a reward with her. What if she just cheats us out of one?" the mare asked

"Well, it's not like we had to actually try to get him... he sort of just fell into our hooves." another buck said

"We ain't no charity. We don't work for free." the mare quickly replied

"I don't think we can get a reward in the first place besides a pat on the back. We work for them afterall..." the first buck retorted

"Hm, well that's true... damn, that still sucks though. I don't like going out in the middle of the night to collect somepony when I don't even get anything in return." the other buck said

"You don't get flogged for disobedience... I'd say that's a reward." the mare said,

Rakz decided that their voices were coming from ahead of him. His curiosity getting the better of him as to what they were talking about, he looked out with one eye and almost instantaneously spotted the yellowish unicorn with a gag in his mouth and his hooves linked together by an iron clasp that chained his hooves.

"Still, you think Olive would be better on us. This could have really turned to hell..." the first buck said as Rakz crept out of the alley and followed the trio.

"Yeah I guess it could have... there are Royals just about everywhere, not to mention that Rakz guy that just scares the piss out of me." the other buck said

"Telling us that there was a brighter future for us if we took care of the Death's Envoy. Fuck that, I'd rather eat my own hooves than mess with that tyrannical monster." the mare spat out

That could be arranged, especially since it sounds like Olive seemed to have cut our business short. Rakz thought as he drew his blade out and closed in on the group.

"Hey, do any of you guys feel... cold?" the first buck asked nervously

"It's night and getting near fall, Nails... of course its cold." the mare replied

"No, I mean... do you feel like the air got colder all of a sudden? Like somepony's watching us or something." Nails said

"Actually, I do feel that... in fact, I always feel that way when that Rakz guy is around... oh shit!" the other buck said as he turned around, the movement turning as if it was in slow motion to Rakz.

Rakz instantly reacted, galloping forward with an amazing speed; aimed for the buck as he pulled out another long blade in his magic and targeted the other buck with them. By the time he slid to a stop, he had already dug the two blades into the throats of the bucks. The blades did not stop when they met the open throats of the bucks however, instead they continued their forward path to the mare's forelegs where they slid quickly through her knees. Forcing her to the ground with a scream as she fumbled with her hoof for the rifle she had dropped clumsily onto the cracked asphalt road. When her hooves finally touched the rifles wooden stock, her scream had quickly changed to that of a whimper of pain and finally to one of a grunt of fear and confusion as a slick, metallic presence appeared on her throat.

"I wouldn't if you want to survive this night." he said slowly for the mare to hear him.

The mare looked into Rakz's eyes with a look of hatred, anger, but mostly fear. "F-fuck you... I'm not going to let you kill me, you sick..."

He cut her off by leveling the knife just above her right eye. "I'm gonna need you to be quiet now so that I can talk. Also, you have a potty mouth... and that is not very polite."

The mare didn't say anything though, just continued to stare in fear at the knife that hung a hair's width from her right eye.

"Now, can you tell me why Olive put a hit out on me... you know, the pony she uses to do hits? If you ask me, I'd say that that's pretty counter productive to put a hit on your hit pony." he asked with a hidden smile as he swirled the knife around slowly above her eye.

"I-I don't know... honestly, I have no idea why she wanted us to drop you." the mare stuttered

He sighed, seeing that the look in her eyes told him the truth. She wasn't lying about knowing nothing about why Olive wanted to see him dead. "Alright, how about I ask you this then? Why were you hunting Latch down in the first place?"

She spoke with a stutter of fear. "O-Olive wanted to m-make sure that the job was done r-r-right... she didn't think you w-would do it right after she s-saw Latch's apartment."

Rakz lowered the knife to her throat, wondering how Olive had seen the apartment. It didn't really matter to him now though, he would figure out soon enough. He helped the mare up, pointing a hoof towards the south. "Go now before I decide to change my mind."

She quickly nodded to him, attempting to stand up but only to fall back to her legs. After a few more of these attempts, Rakz lifted a small purple bottle out of his cloak and gave it to her. He watched cautiously as her tendons and skin grew back, allowing her to stand back up and gallop as fast as she could in the opposite direction of him. I hope to never see you again, else I'll most likely do something I will regret. Rakz thought

"You are possibly the softest pony I have ever seen... you just let everypony run away, don't you?" Bones rasped

"There is such a thing known as tolerance... you don't just kill anything and everything that makes a mistake." Rakz said

Bones shook his head in disagreement. "No, the sinners need punished. No pony should be given a second chance."

Rakz spun to the creature in anger. "Then what about me? Why do I get a second chance? I sin every breath I take but yet I still get a second chance. Why do I get off when others must pay?"

"Because you are being punished for it. You suffer for your sins every moment, being given no choice but to go out there and punish others. Unless of course, you enjoy punishing others."

"I'm not like you Bones, I don't enjoy causing pain... I don't enjoy killing others when they could do something better than what I am doing. All I do is kill and make the world worse." Rakz said hollowly as he turned to a confused looking Latch held to the ground by his magic.

"No... that's the thing, Rakz, you are making the world better. You kill for justice and justice only, something that needs to be done more often. You do not stray from that path." Bones pointed to Latch "You told him that killing would solve nothing... if you ask me, that was just you being a hypocrite. You can't tell me that this city hasn't improved at all since you took up hits."

"How? How have I improved this city?"

"That's for you to answer... I'm only here to give you questions, not to answer them."

Rakz sighed as he let go of Latch and undid all of his bonds. "So, where were we before I seemed to have dozed off?"

Latch stood up slowly and looked into his eyes with distress. "There is no way for me to change your mind, is there?"

Rakz shook his head, already moving towards Latch with a blade floating by him.

Latch laughed, not a sane laugh but a hysterical one. It was the only way he could accept his fate as he began to hiccup from his undeniable fate. "So, this is how I'm going? Like a coward? I wished I could have died like a hero but it looks like I'll be remembered as a traitor."

"No, Latch, I will remember you as a hero. I know the truth and that's all that matters." Rakz said sadly

Latch smiled sadly, falling to his haunches. "I never got to tell Olive how much I hated her, never got to tell Lime that he's just another whiny asshole, and I never even got to really enjoy my life. All I have to die with are memories of how bad my life has been... ponies pushing me around the entire time, unable to do anything 'cuz I was weak and helpless. How fucked up is that?"

"That's how life usually treats us. It's something we must deal with and when life has us down, we just keep going no matter what the consequences."

Latch sighed and then looked into Rakz's eyes with sorrow. "I guess I'm as ready as can be... ready to become another casualty."

A memory that Rakz had just recently experienced bursted into his mind with a surprising clarity to it. Allowing him to remember what the pony, Black Watch, had told the unicorn colt. Rakz bit his lip, sheathing the knife. "Latch... I understand your fear-and I find it saddening to take your life with steel. I would like to see you live but I can't give you what you want... but I can give you something like it."

"W-what do you mean? Y-you're going to... spare me?" Latch frowned

Rakz sighed and shook his head sadly. "No... your body will die but... your soul will continue to exist in the real world instead of leaving for judgement."

"I don't understand..."

"You don't need to... all you need to know is that I can give you a fitting death, I can make sure that you are remembered."

Latch looked up with a smile, not filled with happiness but also not forced. "I'd like that if I am to die. I'd like to know that even after death I will be helping the world for I hope the better... will I?"

"Yes, but I must tell you this... it is much more painful than what my blade would endow to you. I will also need you to completely open up to me, dropping any mental barriers you have for me to do so."

Latch didn't speak for a few moments, thinking of whether or not he wants to die painfully and be remembered; or die quickly and be forgotten by almost all. "Life is a hardship... filled with pain... I want to do it. I want to be remembered no matter what the cost."

Rakz frowned and stared deeply into Latch's eyes. "I will need you to trust me... to give up everything and allow me to access your mind. Okay?"

"It's hard to trust a pony who is just going to kill you... but, of all the ponies I have met in my life, Rakz, you are the best pony I have ever come across. If I could... could I call you my friend until... until..." Latch choked up with tears.

"If it makes it easier, yes, you may call me your friend."

"I've never trusted anypony before, Rakz, never. Yet, for some reason... I trust you completely. If I could, I would put my life in your hooves. For you know how to make this world better... you know what it needs." and with that, Latch drooped his head with his last smile.

Rakz smiled as he put his horn to Latch's horn, resulting a in a tiny spark as Rakz's horn glowed. He gasped as the other pony's memories and thoughts flooded his memory, filling him with foreign feelings. Latch was clearly hurt from all of the punishment he had received from other ponies. Almost all of his memories were of ponies hurting him in so many different ways. Rakz receded from them though, they were not his to look at.

Soon enough, he found what he was looking for deep in Latch's mind. A light that splayed every colour imaginable, shifting to mainly one colour though. A deep blue that seemed to sing of how much pain and misery Latch had dealt with in his life. Rakz grabbed the light with a soft embrace, pulling it gently and slowly out of Latch's mind as the other pony began to have tremors from the pain going through his body. It was a dark deed but Rakz would do it... for a friend.

He pulled the sphere of light away from the pony and was greeted by white wisps emanating from the yellow pony and surrounding Rakz. They dug into the dark stallion, filling him with a satisfying pain. When it stopped, he gazed down upon the other pony, glad to see that his eyes were closed and that he was smiling as he died.

"How?" Bones asked with an expression of pure ignorance and confusion

Rakz turned to the creature with a sad smile, "Somepony in my dreams taught me." he said this as if it made it any more clear to the creature. Instead, the creature fell on their haunches and scratched at the top of their skull in confusion.

"Okay... I guess you aren't as sane as I originally thought you were."

He just shrugged at this though as he levitated Latch's body up and began to walk to a large dirt patch on the side of the road. A large flat rock sat in the dirt patch, it was the perfect tool for what he must do. The rock lifted up in a purple glow and soon began to bite into the dirt, scooping it up for the hole that Latch would sit in. It was not the best grave to Rakz's opinion but it was the best he could offer.

"So, after you're done with your little chore, what are our plans for later, boss?" Bones asked with that dry rasping that he had become so accustomed to.

Rakz turned to it with a set expression of vendetta on his face. "Now, we plan for the future," and with this, he shoveled the last of the dirt out of the pit he had been digging out and lowered Latch's body in slowly. "for the future holds our fate in its hooves."

(Author's Note: Again, thanks go out to Kkat for FoE and to Somber for his work that continues to inspire me. Even if I wish I could forget some of his story so that I wouldn't have to think of the horrors contained in it. A special thanks goes out to Flyingspud for allowing me use of Black Watch and to thehiddenbrony for the mention of Shadowsky. Remember to leave commentary so I can fix my story if I have problems or just smile at your praise. Mind any problems, I can't get them all by myself.)


	4. Chapter III: Deals

Chapter III: Deals

"Don't try to scam me, I know your game little mouse. If you want this... you can have it. You'll have to ante up, though."

The four ponies dressed in thick clothing and any other form of "armour" walked down the cold, autumn road in a disorganized group. Drawing everyone's attention to them as they bickered and talked to each other in raised voices. Their care for subtlety and stealth was obvious for how they "patrolled" the area. Apparently the PRP's training never went over on how you were supposed to patrol the area, either that or they just decided to abandon it. Whichever the decision, social skills were decided to be the most important among this group.

Which made it that much easier to follow these noisy and oblivious ponies for Rakz. He watched with a sense of disgust as they yelled at one another or spoke loudly. One of them, a yellowish buck with a brown, spiky mane, barely held back a laugh as he questioned an older, rust coloured buck with a scraggly beard.

"Alright, so tell me if I'm wrong about this. You managed to take out an entire squad of RO's in hoof-to-hoof combat and you shot down a RAF squad with... what was it you said?"

The pony with the scraggly beard scratched at his chin before replying "It was a... AR-76. Y'know, those assault carbines you can find on most of 'em Royals."

The spiky maned pony nodded his head slowly at Scruffy Beard, "You shot down a squad of RAF's, which is usually 3 to 4 ponies, with an automatic rifle? May I also include that they are harder to shoot then a whole plague of them parasprites? If I am correct, then that sir, is an act of Celestia herself and you are the ruler of Equestria!" Spiky emphasized this by mock bowing to him with a large grin.

One of the other ponies, a greyish-blue mare, was not able to hold her discipline any longer and fell over in a fit of laughter and tears. With her break came the rest, all of them ridiculing the older pony with their laughter. Even seeming to be so loud that their laughs echoed across all of the city. Scruffy Beard, seeing and hearing this mockery, deflated and turned bright red. The buck seemed to have a sound foundation that he knew that they were laughing at his story, not for the story itself but for the story being a lie. It didn't help that it was quite the extraordinary lie at the too.

"It's the t-truth you three... I'm telling ya' the truth." Scruffy Beard said weakly

This only further stimulated the three ponies laughter into a roar, which resulted in Scruffy to maintain a new silence; and to make himself as small as possible before the group. Doing so as if they were gods and he was a mere flea before them. The mare noticed this however and voiced to the other two laughing ponies what she thought of this.

"Look at the joker crawl you two, how pathetic is that? I'd say he almost regrets trying to fib to us, what do you two think?"

The buck with the spiky mane trotted to the mare and put a leg around her neck, he then pushed her head closer to Scruffy's as he spoke. "Now, now, he only lied to us to win your heart, Granite. I mean, just look at how much he desires you with those lovesick eyes. He is just waiting for some flank from you, ain't you?" Spikey gestured to Scruffy with the last sentence

This caused Scruffy to shrink even more before them somehow, looking away from the three ponies mocking him. Granite however smiled wickedly at Spikey's words, thinking of how she can arouse the humor in the air tonight. Her eyes lit up brightly when a thought appeared, her mind already plotting the cruel joke. She walked as seductively as she could to Scruffy, letting her hips swing out farther than usual as her tail swished back and forth slowly. She slid on her most tasteful smile and half closed her eyelids for extra 'oomph'. She then lifted his head up slowly till his eyes locked onto hers and then leaned her face into his, just a hairs breadth away from his lips with her lips.

"So you want a sweet piece of me? Did I hear that right?" Granite said in a low, flirtatious voice.

Scruffy's eyes popped open, seeming to drip with lust as he stared into the mares eyes, lost in them from primal needs. He nodded his head quickly and ignorantly as if he was a puppy begging for his next meal. Granite stared back into Scruffy's eyes and pursed her lips. Then her eyes darkened and her pursed lips turned to a savage grin as she brought back her right fore hoof, poising for a powerful strike. He didn't even notice the hoof as it sped towards his mouth, aiming for his pursed lips to cause major damage. She struck with enough force to throw him back and knock out a tooth. The buck howled in pain as he grabbed his bleeding mouth in both fore hooves.

"Serves you right ya' creeper. Trying to hit on on a young mare like me when your twice my age! You can go and shake yourself off because ain't nobody going to do it for you." Granite roared as she stood above the bleeding buck, laughing at his weak attempts to stand back up. Every time he would attempt to, she would pull a hoof back and slam him back into the ground with brutal force. She laughed as she did so while the buck cried in pain, shame and embarrassment with a mouth filled with blood.

Then Spikey came over and put a hoof on Granite's shoulders, stopping her from hitting the buck again. "Okay, you had your fun with Bore, it's bad enough that you messed his mouth up isn't it?"

Granite turned to Spikey with a sneer as she stepped away from Bore, leaving him to wallow in pain. "I was just beginning to have fun with him though, Stix. You know how much I love messing with poor suckers like him." She pointed at the crying Bore, with a blood smeared hoof. "Just let me mess with him a little bit more."

Stix shook his head though and pushed the mare away to inspect Bore's injuries. His mouth had a tooth missing and crimson was flowing freely from his bruised mouth where Granite had continued to berate him. He also had several bruises from where Granite had kicked him to keep him down. "If you keep beating him, then you'll probably kill him and we'll have to explain how we lost somepony when we ain't seen nobody out here. Even if you don't, somepony's gonna get questionable why he's so beat up."

Granite lowered her head with a sigh as she realized what Stix was saying was correct. "Damn it, Stix, why do ya' gotta ruin my fun with logic?" She said this jokingly though, knowing that Stix kept them all out of more trouble than what they usually get in.

"Hey, let's get him up and we'll go on back to HQ. We'll say he got mugged or something; and we came to his rescue a tad late. Ain't that right, Bore? You walked in the wrong alley and payed for it, didn't you?" Stix asked darkly

Bore shook as he stood up on weak legs, nodding pathetically in terror of another beating from Granite and pain from the one he already received.

"Good boy, now let's get back before anypony gets questionable why we've been gone for so long at HQ." Stix said with a frightening smile as the group all resumed their walk to the HQ.

Rakz followed slowly and silently behind the group, keeping his gaze mostly locked on Granite in hatred and anger. He promised to himself that he would make the mare regret having hurt Bore, nopony should ever perform such a hateful act as she did. Not without punishment at least. There must always be an equalization to everything done.

"Like you, right? You are always getting punishment for what you do? Especially since you don't ever seem to have anything happen to you after you commit your multiple counts of murder, murder, and... um... murder." Bones rasped from behind him

Rakz remained silent, not wanting to compromise his position by talking to the monster. He thought to himself that maybe if he ignored it long enough, it would go away... he thought that maybe it would go away forever!

"I will never go away, what would you do without me? You would never be tempted to commit an atrocity! You would never have someone to annoy you as much as I do if I go away!" Bones yelled while he struck a heroic pose

Rakz continued to ignore the ridiculous creature while he continued his tracking of the obnoxiously loud ponies in front of him through the dilapidated streets. Stix, now believed to be the leader of the group, looked down both roads and led them to the left. Rakz followed them to the crossroads and waited for them to make a decision of which way it could be to the PRP HQ.

"What do you even propose to achieve by following these four sad examples of ponies?" Bones asked while attempting to draw his attention away by jumping and yelling across the road in front of him.

The question went unanswered, as Rakz was not deeming to even whisper in case that these four ponies might detect him. He didn't think that they could even if he started screaming and running around but he wasn't going to take his chances. The pace he kept also showed his mindset for wanting to stay incognito. As he was 100 feet away from the group at all times, allowing him to hear their conversation but remain undetected. Yet, his attention was still slightly drawn away by the creature that continued to whoop and yell while prancing across the streets.

Why do you have to be such a nuisance? Rakz mentally asked the creature.

"You don't like it? Well, I guess your days just gonna be awful. 'Cuz I quite enjoy annoying you. Really, you should give it a try." Bones laughed as he jumped over the stoic stallion

Rakz shook his head in disgust at Bones, clearly not caring for the creatures company. Then his full attention reasserted itself on the four ponies as Stix broke off from the group.

"You three wait here, I have to go take a leak." Stix yelled out while he trotted to an alleyway to do his business

"Yep, ya' heard him, Granite, wait here. So don't try to go peeking at Stix over there while he does his personal business." the other buck, a brightly coloured purplish one, said with a bump of his hip to Granite's

Granite turned to the other buck with a face filling with red. "It was once, once I did that, Berry. So get off my case or I'll do you up like I did to Bore..."

"...in his dreams, right? You'll give me everything I ever wanted?" Berry said with a wriggle of his eyebrows

Granite's face turned redder but it also turned into a furious frown, looking as if she wanted to kill the buck. Berry however just chuckled and leaned against the grey, chipping wall for comfort. He then drew out a cigarette from a pouch on his wool coat and lit it, smoking the cancer stick. Comfort seemed to be a higher priority on this pony's agenda over health. Of course, justice and equality seemed to be a higher priority for another specific pony, one who was much darker in colour and mindset then Berry.

Stix stood at the entrance of the alleyway, listening to the two ponies before deciding to answer the call of nature. He walked in but not by himself, a spectre had followed him into the dark and cold alleyway. He sighed as the great pressure in his bladder was released, this was the last act he had committed before a cold terror filled the recesses of his mind. This feeling only continued for another second before everything fell into a warm darkness with an intense pain that at one second was there at the base of the back of his neck; and was gone the next. His limp body fell into his own puddle, darkening his yellowish coat to a much darker tone.

"It's magic time..." Bones muttered while Rakz flipped the dead buck over, with magic of course so that he did not get any urine or blood on him, and observed his features.

A quick burst of dark purple light seemed to skim over the dead buck, as if scanning him, before returning to the dark stallions horn. Then a green light, what appeared to be a "fire", engulfed

Rakz for a brief second before leaving the alley in its dark depths once again. The pony that still breathed however, had changed in features. Instead of a dark coat, his coat had changed to that of the dead one, with it however, came the loss of his horn. As the dead buck was an earth pony and this would most likely cause the alert that this wasn't Stix if they saw him with a horn. That was not the only change, as his hair was done up in the same style as Stix's with the same cutiemark of a baseball bat with a spike through it.

Now the only difference between the dead Stix and the living "Stix" was that the living one had a long, billowing cloak that covered his features. As much as the living one would hate to do it, he was forced to lose his precious cloak to dawn the filthy clothes and weapons of the dead one. He did it quickly, folding his cloak in a cranny in the wall where it would be difficult to find it and pulled on the leather barding of the buck on the ground. Using his hooves to shake it of some of the filth on it. Then he took the flimsy shotgun off of the ground where he set it and strapped it to his back after checking it for how much ammo it carried. It may have been flimsy but at least it held five 12 gauge shells in it, all buckshot.

Then he heard hoofsteps from behind him and spun quickly to the sound with a feeling of alarm in the back of his head.

"Hey, Stix, you alright in there? You've been in there for quite a while and I was just wondering if you need help with something." Granite yelled out just from the corner of the alleyway

"Help him out? I'd bet you'd love to help him out." Berry yelled out, snickering afterwards

"Shut up, you hair-brained moron! Nopony wants your shit." Granite yelled back with what must have been a red face

The Stix imposter stayed silent for a brief time as he analyzed on how to respond; and in finding his response, walked out with a cocky attitude and a grin. Green fire appeared behind him where Bones followed closely behind while examining Stix's appearance.

"Shit just got magical... and I think I like it that way." Bones chuckled

Stix walked out of the alleyway and looked over at an embarrassed, slowing slightly on her flank for the sake of keeping his identity false. His gaze finally fell on her eyes and he stared at her for a good few seconds with a cocky grin before responding to her previous question.

"Sorry, I had more to leak then I thought I did, didn't know I was that amazing at that too... how many more things will I master?"

Granite sighed and looked down while she trotted back towards Berry, mumbling something about how all bucks were the same or something along those lines. Stix let go of the breath he did not know he was holding and walked over to the group of ponies. So far, so good, thought Stix.

"Until you kill somepony for justice or whatever makes you feel better at bedtime, or maybe you'll just lose control of the spell and everypony will see you for who you are?" Bones said with a sick smile

Stix shook his head as he took the lead of the group and started to trot right through the crossroads, in the direction of the PRP HQ. He stopped though when he noticed the lack of hooves behind him, he spun towards the group in case they had somehow found out his identity and were about to open fire. Instead, he saw all of them staring strangely at him, all except Bore of course.

"What are all of you waiting for? Winter Wrap Up? Let's get moving before somepony gets pissy about where we are." Stix yelled back, turning back around and walking away again with the sound of approaching hooves behind him.

When they finally reached him, Granite walked up to him and leaned in on the buck precariously close. He stared at the mare with a raised eyebrow and she scooted a few feet from him. They continued to walk in silence for a few more minutes before Berry broke it with his loud voice and a nudge to Stix's side.

"Hey, what's wrong with ya' bud? You seem to be awfully quiet, you ain't never like that. Did staring at your piss really upset you that much?"

Stix responded by staring him in the eyes with a feeling of cold dread that seemed to pour out of the eyes into everyone around him. Berry couldn't place it; but these eyes seemed different to him, almost like a strangers eyes. Instead of a sort of cheerful glint from his eyes like usual, they seemed dangerous, filled with experiences that Berry didn't want to know about. Berry shrank from those eyes and scuttled away from Stix to the back of the group.

"I'm not really feeling the mood for being loud, how about we just walk in silence for now? My heads just... all fogged up right now." Stix said to the entire group, actually able to tell the truth over the lie he had planned to use as an alternative. His head was foggy, very foggy from the effects of the spell. Any unicorn is able to perform the spell he had but... it has a side effect. To his knowledge, Stix had no idea if any unicorn could ever adapt to this. It would be quite the oddity if they could.

They walked in this cold silence once again, not wanting to talk incase it upset Stix and partially because they were afraid of that dread that seemed to be oppressing them at all moments. The only moments a sound was made was when Bore tripped face first into the road, spurring a raucous laughter from Berry and Granite before Stix stared them both down. Sedating their laughter and leaving the message that if they made another peep, he would make them wish they hadn't.

Granite looked suspiciously at the buck, unsure of what was different about him but knowing that something was. For some reason, ever since he had left the alley, there was this cold dread that had built around the group. She had never felt this way around him before. As she had always had a thought of what could happen if she had decided to try her luck and hook up with Stix. The only feelings she usually had with him is a hot, erotic feeling. Instead, now she feels fear broiling through her very veins. The urge to turn tail and bolt in any direction that led away from this buck was powerful but she managed to override the urge.

Berry voiced what Granite was thinking, clearly not caring much for how Stix may react. "Does anypony else feel that? It's like winter is breathing on us... but with something sinister and dark before it. Can't quite place it."

Stix turned to the buck. staring him directly in the eyes with a darkness that threatened to envelop the buck's sanity and life. This shut the buck up quickly, if not instantly, stopping any conversations that might have began or continued. It continued in this dark silence until they arrived at their location. All of them dropped into a relaxed figure as they saw the building, all except for Stix who looked around him. Noticing the multiple ponies on top of the buildings around them, looking down at the streets with scopes.

He was sure that they would discover his ruse and open fire on him immediately. His body was poised to jump out of the way and drag one of the fools into the snipers cross hairs. It was just a survival instinct that had proved to insure that his life was not a short one as so many were in these dark times.

"Hey, Stix, you gonna go and talk to the door guard so that we won't freeze our asses out here? I mean... if that's what you want, of course." Berry said with a slight whimper

Stix looked back at him with a raised eyebrow and walked slowly up to the door, locking his peripherals on the sniper that was watching them on the building next to them. Sure that the second he knocked on the door that his brains would be scattered across the cracked, dirty road like a jar of jam against a speeding baseball. He raised his hoof and knocked on the door, tensing up as the slot in the door slid open to reveal a pair of light brown eyes. They seemed to gaze over the buck for a few seconds before turning to gaze upon the rest of the group.

"Erm, you guys are late, ya' know that? By like, a lot of time. Maybe an hour or so if you ask me. Think that Sunny is gonna be a little pissed, 'specially since it don't seem you have anything worth two shits on you." the eyes spoke forth from the slot in the door, clearly a buck's voice.

"We had a confrontation with some little a-holes over at 14th. Bore here didn't exactly get the smallest brunt if you can't tell. So, how about you just let us in and we won't discuss to Sunny how you refused to let us in for medical assistance?" Stix offered smoothly with a slight smile as he gazed deeply into the other buck's eyes, unintentionally poking and prodding at the buck's head without him knowing it.

The buck seemed to sweat around the eyes as he locked onto Stix's eyes, unable to pull away from the thread that was keeping them locked together. Transmitting all of the darkness that festered in Stix to the other buck. Then Stix blinked and all of a sudden, the link was shattered. Leaving the buck gasping and panting on the other side of the door as he slid down out of exhaustion and fear of the darkness he had attempted to fend off desperately in his mind, only to be surrounded by its enveloping dread.

"So, is he not letting us in since he just disappeared?" Berry asked Stix with a faint feeling of the darkness that had ebbed off the strange acting buck. He did not enjoy the darkness's company when it was at that level, he did not want to know what it would be like if he received the full brunt of it.

"He'll let us in, he's just taking his damned time." Stix replied, spitting on the door in frustration.

The group waited a whole minute, waiting for the door to open, Berry was about to voice his opinion on the situation when he was interrupted by the sound of a latch being slid out of its hold from behind the metal door. The door than creeped open to show the buck who had opened the door for them. His figure was tense and exasperated, as if he had just gone through a great ordeal. This could also be told by the amount of sweat that was pouring off of his panting body. Berry was unsure what Stix had done to this buck but he was sure he did not want to experience it.

"Come on, let's get inside before I get frostbite on my hooves." Stix spat out as he pushed the exasperated buck out of the way and trotted down the hall, not waiting for the others to enter. They quickly pursued however as the cold wind gusted strongly against their sides. Berry taking the lead as usual by Stix.

"Hey, Stix, you want to go report in to Sunny about what we "found"? 'Cuz I personally do not want to deal with that. Well, maybe deal with her in a different way but definitely not in telling her what went down. Unless it's her going down of course." Berry said with a big smile on his face as he imagined what he spoke of.

Stix looked at him and shook his head, not understanding how some ponies could be so primitive. Listening only to their "needs" and "wants". It was quite sickening to him actually, if anything.

"Right, 'cuz you never listen to your urges, do you? Like eating, pissing, drinking, sleeping... killing?" Bones chuckled next to his ear

Stix shook his head as if to shake the creature from reality, attracting everyponies attention close to him with peculiar looks. Then Stix's attention was locked onto a mare gasping in front of him, concentrated on what appeared to be him. The buck prepared himself for an attack, only to have the mare rush past him to Bore, where she began to examine the buck without any consent.

"Dear Celestia, what happened to this stallion? It looked like he was trampled several times by a pair of hooves!" the mare exclaimed, turning her gaze slowly to the group that had just entered the building recently. It was clear that she was suspicious of them and that this was the first time that this group had showed up with a single pony hurt with wounds that appeared to be from hooves.

Berry attempted to speak but only sputtered, giving Stix enough time to cover the group... as much as he rather not do so. "We were walking down 14th when I told Bore to go examine the alley for anything scavengable. Unfortunately, we did not know of the ponies that laid in wait for us. There were two of them but they were doped up on some heavy stuff, must have been Stranded. They muffled Bore's yells at first but he was able to scream for help before they muffled him again. We tried to help him as much as we could but the bastards had already done the damage."

"Sorry about the teeth by the way, we couldn't seem to find any. I think the attackers thought they were drugs and, well... ate them. I hope you can do something for him, I'd rather not have one of my squaddies be unable to chew their food." Stix said this all with what appeared to be true emotions to the mare, tripping her off of her original suspicion to believe that two Stranded had actually done this.

"Thanks for helping him, we'll give him a morphine shot and see how he does after that. Unfortunately, we can't really fix his teeth since there aren't any there to fix. Hope you can learn how to chew without your front teeth because unless you can find a magical dentist that is how your life will live out to be. Come on, follow me to medical." the mare said with a leg to Bore, the buck followed her as they headed to wherever medical was.

Berry walked up to Stix with an open mouth, unable to comprehend what had just occurred. Granite sat back with relatively the same expression, it was clear that the "old" Stix had not been good at covering their trails. Now however, the "new" Stix seemed to be good at everything, lying, manipulating, silencing, and shocking others.

"I'm not sure when you began to be good at lying, Stix, but I wish you would have started that awhile ago. 'Cuz we wouldn't be where we are today if ya' did." Berry said with a gaping mouth

"Let's just go and report this into Sunny before anything else happens. I'd like to talk to Olive about something."

Berry's face quickly went from an expression of excitement to one of misunderstanding as he attempted to kindle what he just heard. "Umm... did you just say that you wanted to talk with Olive? Olive, the taskmaster for all of Manehattan?"

Stix nodded his head, unable to tell what the big problem with that was. Berry quickly solved this for him.

"You can't just walk in and talk to Olive, she asks for you and than you can talk to her. If you just barge in without permission you'll get your ass kicked harder than a what a bullet can do. I think you may want to rethink your plan, Stix. 'Cuz it sucks a lot of apples." Berry said with unnecessary motions of his legs.

I guess if you're just some lackey of the PRP, you're expected to hold some level of respect to the taskmaster. How quaint, I always just barged in and did whatever the hell I wanted. Oh well, guess I'll just have to go by their rules... for now. Stix thought to himself, knowing that he would have to follow the rules in order to get out alive.

The group descended down a hallway with multiple ponies walking past them in the opposite direction. All of them seeming to take a furtive glimpse at Stix, turning their gaze quickly away after seeing his eyes. Exactly how the rest of the group had reacted first when looking into his eyes. Soon enough, however, Stix found himself walking down the hall by himself without the sound of others walking behind him to accompany him. He turned slowly, expecting the barrel of a firearm to be aimed at him, only to find Granite and Berry turned around, walking the other direction.

"Hey, where you two headed? You know Sunny is this way, right?" Stix yelled out to the two ponies.

Granite turned to Stix with a disgusted look on her face, "Yeah, we know. But I ain't catching myself once in that room with... her. You can go on ahead and tell her what shit hit the fan, us two are just gonna head to the commons for a quick bite while you get yelled out. Sorry bud, but you are after all the one "in charge"." with that, both of them turned and began to trot to the mess hall for what could be their last meal if plans didn't go as Stix wanted them to.

Stix trotted away from the group, even more suspicious of his surroundings, expecting the two ponies to inform Olive that he was not Stix; but an infiltrator here to cause "harm". He was hoping however that this was just his paranoia of everything and anything. As his trust went about as far as he could grip the idea of an all-powerful being that could raise and lift the sun and moon. It was just not perceivable to him, as nopony should be that powerful.

Then his thoughts were dashed away as a pony stepped out of the doorway in front of him, forcing him to jump around the pony with amazing agility and speed. He flipped around to catch a sight of the pony, in case they were armed and ready to spray the wall with his brains. Only to find a very surprised looking mare. He quickly looked her over, trying to notice any intention of causing harm to him. In finding none, he relaxed his body only slightly and made a small curtsy with his hoof in a show of apology.

The mare dropped her surprised expression and made the same curtsy with a golden hoof that seem to radiate light itself. Her entire coat appeared to have this perceptual distortion, even her hair, a orangish-yellow mane, seemed to radiate heat. It was as if her entire body was a ray of light and heat, her very eyes gave off a warmth from them in their static blue spheres. There was not a single part of her that didn't radiate warmth and light, from her cutiemark of a sun on a horizon, that must have been rising by her aura, to the tip of her golden horn. Even in Stix's mind, this was the most gorgeous sight he had ever seen.

However, experience in sedating all of his urges and manifesting a true spectres mind had given him the ability to merely shrug off the sight of this beauty. Allowing him to keep an expression of carelessness as he quickly thought of how the scenario would proceed. It seemed that this was a useless endeavor however as the mare proceeded first.

"Stix? Hmm... I can't help but notice that you aren't staring at my flank the entire time. In fact, it is quite astounding that you even apologized for something that was not your fault in any form. I had expected you to make some immature joke about how "I'd bump that" or something along that line. What ordeal have you gone through that has repressed your instant remarks?"

Stix flipped through his brain for whatever her name was, quickly finding it in the recesses of his thoughts. "Well, it's like I was re-birthed in some sense to tell the truth. If I had caused you any strife in the past, I apologize, as that was not my self doing so. Very sorry for any harm done, Ms. Sunny."

Sunny stared at him with an expression that seemed to say "Just who the hell are you?". It was unknown whether she believed the impostor or not, but it was clear that she was confused at what was occurring. Hopefully, this will work to my advantage, Stix thought to himself.

"Hm, well, I accept your apology. I also expect you to show this kind of respect to your superior more often than what you usually did, else you may find yourself with the others who don't in the "cellar". Understood?" Sunny smirked slightly

"I understand completely, no misconceptions whatsoever."

She looked at him for a few more seconds before walking back into the room she came out from, gesturing for him to follow her in. He did so without any hesitation, keeping his view on the back of her head instead of her rump like the "old" Stix would have done before his "renewal". He looked around the room, inspecting it for any escape routes or any major threats. The only escape routes seemed to be the door from which he came from and besides one guard standing at attention by the door, there were no major threats. If he had to, he could easily dispose of everypony in this room. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to, though.

Sunny sat down in the chair behind the beat up metal desk and gestured for him to take a seat on the old wooden chair in front of the desk. He did so and waited for her to say whatever she had led him in here for. The thought that she was going to discuss why he was here and how he got in in the first place seemed like the most likely choice. The fear that she had discovered his identity only grew more and more as she looked through papers in front of her. Finally, she took out a pen and began to write on a slip of paper as she spoke to him.

"Do you know why you are here, Sgt. Stix?"

"To serve the people of Equestria so that they may experience a greater life of peace and equality. As this is why we all serve I am sure." Stix replied with fake honour and pride

This took the mare aback, not expecting this answer, she was now oblivious on where to go from here. Her cool quickly gathered itself again, however, and she reasserted herself over the situation. "I am glad to hear a new enthusiasm for your duty. However, I meant why you are in my office. If you could please answer that question for me."

Stix pondered it, not sure at first why he was in here. His mind quickly wondered to a choice and he decided to risk it. "I believe it is so that you may debrief me on our patrol through our designated area. Am I correct or have I made a mistake, ma'am?"

She smiled at this, finding it humerous in someway. "No, you are very correct. Which only astounds me further. So, how about you save us the time and go ahead and give me your debriefing. By the sound of Bags at the front, it seems you discovered nothing but a teammate with a few missing teeth and many, many bruises. Mind telling me why?" Her expression changed from one of enjoyment to one of suspicion and authority.

"There was nothing to acquire and we had never spotted any RO squads ma'am, the only thing we did discover were two stranded having their "fun" with Bore. We attempted to help Bore as soon as we discovered what had occurred but we were slightly too slow. In our vain attempts, he was wounded. One of the nurses had gotten to him when we entered the building, he now resides in medical as we speak." Stix shot off with the demeanor that she was his true superior and he was nothing more than a grunt.

Her expression fell back into a smile and she sat back, chuckling slightly to herself. She wondered how many more surprises did Stix have for her today. "Alright, your story sounds straight to me. I think you're good to go. I hope this state of yours remains, your new personality is quite enjoyable."

Stix sat up from his chair, saluting her before turning and leaving. He managed to reach the doorway before Sunny called his name. As usual, he expected to turn around to a firearm pointing for a brain painter. To his enjoyment, she held out a packet to him in an aura of orange magic.

"Take this packet to Lime Quarter will you? It is very dire that you do so, do not read it or open it; and do not remain in the room as he opens it. Understood, or have you decided to flip your attitude on me?" Sunny looked down at him, expecting him to flip and piss her off. Yet, the buck grabbed the envelope in his mouth and saluted to her once again, leaving the room with his back straight and a sense of honour that coiled around him.

When he was finally gone, she grabbed her shoulders and shivered at the frost that had seemed to fill the room when he was in here. There was something very different about that buck, not just his attitude or his sense of duty; but his very being seemed to have changed to something much more... dark. Even his eyes seemed different, instead of his usual blue eyes they were more of a dark blue filled with pain and anger. It just didn't seem right to her.

Stix walked down the hallway, only to stop by a crevice in the wall just large enough for two ponies to squeeze into. He did so, dropping the note on the floor and opening it to find the same slip of paper that she had been writing on earlier. He read it quickly, expecting a supply request or something else; but was shocked to find what he read. It had nothing whatsoever to do with the PRP officials business... in fact, it only had to deal with Sunny and Lime Quarter. He almost felt ashamed to read it, as it was personal business. Yet, he read it anyways.

Dear Lime Quarter

I am unable to wait to see you once again, as the last time we had been together was one of the most enlightening experiences in my entire life. Never have I had such a thrilling moment as I had with you. The wait is just killing me, my legs can barely keep still when my mind roams to you. It is like some presence has possessed me... and that presence is you. This probably sounds very cheap but it is coming from the heart. Please, tell me when we may meet again. It is the only thing that keeps me working without me having a break down.

Shall we meet at the old apartment on 2nd and Ody street? I am not very confident with my knowledge of locations in this city as I am but a lieutenant and you are the quartermaster of all of Manehattan. Surely, you must know every nook and cranny in this cesspool. If you have a sense of a "better" location, please inform me and I shall gladly meet you there with all of my heart.

Please, love, I must see, smell, and embrace you once again.

Love Sunny

Stix quickly closed the note after reading it all, ensuring that it looked like the note was never opened from its packet. He wouldn't want Lime to get suspicious of him after all, how would it feel if he failed this far in his mission just because of a stupid love note? The thought seemed to actually sicken the buck, as he didn't think that his "luck" was yet extinguished. Yet, he knew better, as there was always a high chance of his espionage being discovered. Hopefully, it wouldn't happen before he dealt with Olive.

The buck walked down the hallway to a door with a single guard by it, he nodded to the mare standing guard and knocked rapidly on the wooden frame of the door. There was no reply after five seconds, so he rapped on the door once again. When there was no reply once more, the guard began to look slightly troubled, beginning to move out of her position to open the door with her key. Stix, however, pushed her aside and knocked one last time. Finally, a groggy buck's voice answered from behind the door.

"Alright, I hear you. I'm coming to unlock the door, just give me a second please."

There was the sound of keys jingling and a lock clicking from behind the door. Then the door opened up to the exhausted appearance of a Lime Quarter with dozens of papers sticking out of his saddlebags. Clearly, he had been heavily at work for the past few days, as it looked as if sleep was never a requirement for this buck. It looks like Olive was wrong about Lime, he didn't slack in his work, there was too damn much to go through. Stix thought to himself as he saluted to his "superior".

Lime gestured for him to lower his salute and walked to a large square table in the center of the room covered in papers, clipboards, and pencils. Stix followed, dropping the letter on the table for Lime to notice. The pegasus seemed to not realize that Stix had walked in however, as he leaned forward on the table and drooped his face down to it. Falling to sleep almost immediately once his eyes closed. This would do fine for Stix, he just had to deliver this letter and than find a way inside Olive's office. Which came to him quickly as he turned around and began to head out the room.

He stopped though when Lime's voice broke the silence, asking him to come back here. He did so without hesitation, looking the tired pegasus in the eyes. Unsure if the pegasus even knew where he was; but he seemed to know what was going on. He gestured for Stix to pick up the letter and to give it to him. Stix quickly did so, moving to head out again, when Lime asked him a question. Halting him from his mission.

"What is your name, soldier? Who is this letter from?"

"I am Sgt. Stix, sir, and the letter is from Lieutenant Sunny, sir. I am unsure of why she wanted to give it to you; but I assume it is for necessary purposes. Such as requesting more firearms and ammo or whatnot." Stix called off like a real soldier, throwing almost only lies at the tired pegasus.

Lime nodded at this, most likely believing any lie anypony would tell him. Stix was sure that if he said he was a three-headed-acid-breathing-chipmunk that Lime would believe him.

"You may go now... wait, no, I have something for you to do. I need you to tell me, how does this look on me?" Lime asked as he pulled up a half-eaten bagel and put it on top of his head like a hat.

Stix, acting like a true soldier replied immediately with a lie. "It looks fantastic, sir, the best hat I've ever seen in my life. May I go now, sir?"

Lime nodded to his request, drifting off back to sleep immediately. It was actually quite silly to the buck how fast Lime could drift off. The pegasus surely must not have had sleep for over days. Even though the PRP had a choke hold on all of Manehattan, able to lock the RO out from having totalian power from mostly any block, they were still being taxed beyond their limits. How strange that their fight has not let up since day one in this wretched excuse of a city. Stix thought to himself as he trotted out the room to the staircase that would lead to Olive's office.

He continued this path until he climbed up four stories, finally coming to the hallway that would lead him to Olive's office. When he finally came upon the door to her office, he was not surprised to see an increase in her guard rotunda. As usually there was only but one guard sitting out the office, there seemed to be two outside and another two inside. The two inside being able to be located by how the shadows played across the thick glass of the metal door, showing two silhouettes that stood vigilant through the window. The instant that Stix stopped in front of the door, the two guards outside lowered their rifles to block his entrance.

"You may not enter this room without the permission of Major Olive Branch. What is your name, soldier?" a buck in actual Kevlar said in a deep throaty boom.

"Sgt. Stix, sir, reporting from my squadron of the news we had discovered on our patrol route. So, if you would, please remove yourself from the door so that I may speak to the Major of this." Stix spoke with an upraised eyebrow

"I am afraid we can not do so, Sgt., as that may be reported in to your patrol officer." the other guard, a mare, retorted

"I'm afraid that this information is only for Olive's ears. I do not trust my lieutenant to carry it out properly as I do the Major." Stix spat back with a fake tide of rage slowly rising up

The guards however, kept their weapons in his path. Not even allowing him a view through the window anymore. "I'm not going to repeat myself Sgt., remove yourself from the premises voluntarily or we will. Understood, or do I have use my weapon to beat it into you?" the buck yelled out in a fury himself, it seemed he was easily frustrated by those that didn't follow orders or knew the rules.

Stix heard voices from the inside of the office and took the moment to raise the situation. "I ain't movin till my hooves are cold and limp! This info is for only Olive, herself, if you want me to report to the Lt. than I guess we'll all get murdered in our sleep. Probably by you!" the buck poked the other buck roughly, actually pushing him into the wall. This, however, only angered the guard further. The guard dropped his rifle and began to step forward towards Stix, clearly meaning to beat the disobedient pony until he was nothing more than a twitching pile of gore.

Yet, before a blow could be dealt by either bucks, the door slammed open to reveal a proud standing mare in officer's garments. Her gaze locked instantly on the intruder, which would be Stix. Clearly estimating what weapons he might carry and just who the hell he was. Both guards slammed back into the wall with a salute to her when the door opened, almost bringing a smile to Stix's face. He found it amusing how docile these ponies were whenever a superior was in their premises.

"Just what the hell is going on? Why am I hearing yelling from out here and why is this pony here? Why is he not moving when he should be?" Olive Branch roared in the ears of the two guards.

The mare answered first for the two guards, "He would not move when asked, ma'am, Dots was about to move him from the area when the situation escalated."

Olive turned to her and walked up to her until she was a hairs breadth away from the mare, then the yelling continued. "So, why the fuck is he still here? Why is he even here in the first place?"

The mare stuttered a few times before finally answering the questions. "He is reporting that he had acquired information on his daily patrol route that only you may hear. He refuses to dispatch it to his designated patrol officer, ma'am."

She than turned to Stix and repeated to him what she did to the mare. "Who the hell are you and why are you here?"

Stix answered immediately without any fear, regret, or hesitation. "I am Sgt. Stix, ma'am. I had been hoping to give you extremely important information that dealt with the safety of the entire PRP branch in Manehattan and the lives of dozens in this building, ma'am."

Olive seemed a bit taken aback at how cool he reacted but she thought that she could easily beat him into submission like she did the guards. "I have already received the info on your patrol from Sunny, Sgt.; and personally, I find it pretty sad that you had nothing to report to her. Yet, now here you are, saying you have something to report? I don't fucking believe it for one second. I think you're just a goddess damned retard who is trying to attract some attention 'cuz mommy and daddy didn't love you enough as a wee moron. Am I right, idjit?"

Stix's rage, a real rage rather than the false rage he uses to help cover his identity, flustered up. Threatening to break out into an action that would definitely lead to the death of this mare. He controlled it, however, suppressing his urge to maim Olive. "Ma'am, I did not trust the Lt. to carry this info out as I believe that she could bring harm to the entire structure."

At this, Olive seemed to lose her anger and adapted an expression of confusion. "Sgt., what are you talking about? What exactly is endangering us that made you want to chance it and talk to me?"

"May we speak in your office, ma'am? I do not feel safe exposing this info in a possibly insecure location."

Olive looked at him for a good few seconds before turning around and trotting into her office, gesturing for the guards to return to their normal post. "Come on, tell me what you know."

Stix followed her into the room, closing the door behind him,where she gestured for him to sit down. When he shook his head, stating that he would rather sit, she asked her guards to leave the room and take the other two to secure the hallway 50 feet from here. She than asked what was so important that he had to bother her.

"We believe that there is an intruder, ma'am. As we had discovered one of our own people dead in an alleyway not far from here with all of his gear missing." Stix answered the question with a faint smile growing on his face. Actually telling the truth for once.

"Interesting, so you think that there is an intruder why? Just because you discovered a dead soldier does not mean somepony infiltrated us."

"Well, we also discovered the same pony who we found dead in the building earlier on my way to Sunny, ma'am. I know the original was dead, I checked his pulse. Yet, how is there somepony walking around when they died... not to mention he was wearing the same gear? I would have stopped them but I didn't realize it was them till it was too late."

Olive's face turned to one of extreme confusion as Stix spoke, not quite understanding how this could be happening. "So, somepony you discovered dead not but an hour ago is now walking around the building? So, how is that even possible?"

Stix attempted to reply immediately but his mind was becoming strained. It seemed that he had been performing this spell for far too long as beads of sweat began to pop out on his brow and rolled down. He could almost feel a static running through his body, the sign of magic overuse and that his guise was going to be dropped soon. He knew he would have to get this over with quickly... yet, a certain part of his mind continued to push him to make this ruse last. To entertain himself with it.

"T-they are believed to have used some spell to manipulate their figure to match his, ma'am." Stix began to quiver on his knees, barely able to stand any further as the magic began to tap into his reserves. If he had his cloak, he would have been able to use a tonic to refresh his strength in order to continue the spell but he was forced to work quickly by the other ponies.

"Well, get on with it than, Sgt. Just who the hay is it that has infiltrated our security?"

Stix's expression of pain dissolved with a pop and a sizzle of purple light from a horn that had mysteriously appeared on Stix's head. Yet, it was no longer his head, in a green fiery light the head dissolved into a dark grey smirk with dark blue eyes that seemed to pierce Olive's mind, rummaging in it for nothing more than to show that he could. She attempted to move away from the buck but her legs refused to cooperate, Holding her in place as she stared deep into this monsters eyes. All she could muster was a terrified glance as the monster stood at their full erect height, shadowing over the small mare in its darkness.

"I'm afraid that the intruder is me, ma'am... sorry to say though, that they had not been discovered in time to save you from a most terrible death." Rakz said with a cold lust as he trotted slowly towards Olive with his head tilted slightly to the right to give him an enhanced look of pure insanity. Bones appeared behind Olive and put both hooves over her shoulders with a sick smile, enjoying the sight of its twisted partner.

Rakz was however, still drained from his efforts in disguising himself and could feel its effects. His entire mind was clouded and felt drained, the thought of escaping this building had left his mind when he lost control of his spell. Now, all he wanted to do was watch Olive writhe in pain for her actions, to feel her hot blood flow on his skin. He knew that he had lost; but he had no care for it. The only reason he had sneaked in here was to deal with her and here he was, in front of her with the opportunity to finish it all. This bitch doesn't deserve what is coming to her; but it is all I can offer. So, let her writhe. Rakz thought with great glee as he drew out the combat knife on the uniform that he still wore from Stix's body.

Olive finally caught herself enough to realize what was happening and began scrambling backwards as fast as her hooves would carry her. Her attempts were naught however, as she came to a sudden stop against the thick wall behind her not but a foot from where she originally sat. The thought that she was going to die on this exact wall did not enter her mind, only the mindset that at all measures she must escape this lunatic's grasp. No matter how many people she must throw in ways harm, as long as she was the one on top at the end of all the bloodshed.

The stallion with an odd tick in his step and a lack of sanity in his eyes could read this, only feeding his lust to paint the wall with her precious life fluids. Of course, he would have to insure that she could not scream before hoof or he would not be able to enjoy this as much. When she opened her mouth to scream for help, he lunged over the desk on the reserves of strength that still lingered in him and slammed her head into the wall, keeping her silent as her head recoiled in pain and confusion. She attempted to do it again but he repeated the act, than brought the knife to bear at her throat.

"Open your mouth again without my consent and your last sight will be of a stream of red from your neck." Rakz whispered with a sadistic smile into her ear

She only struggled further at this, cutting herself slightly on the knife with every twitch, convulse, and flex of her body. She knew that it was useless to struggle against the Death's Envoy, struggling with him was like trying to fight a hydra with your bare hooves. It was impossible to win in the end no matter how much damage you caused. Yet, she still tried as her mind would not relent to defeat. This for some reason threw an even more sadistic light in his eyes, however. He put more tension on the knife, cutting her deeper as trickles of crimson beaded down her throat.

"That's right, Rakz, just give in to your lust. Let it control you and kill the bitch. You know you want to and it is exactly what you need." Bones said with great glee at the thought of seeing the room red instead of white.

The stallion almost agreed with the creature, digging ever more deeply into her throat, than something clicked on in his head and his eyes returned to their former state. Still a dark blue, but no longer dilated to the point where there were no more irises. He had taken back bits of his sanity... but for how much longer? The thought disturbed him and he refused to believe that he would fall to it. Olive saw this sight in his eyes but didn't make anything of it as she continued to struggle without any future ahead for her by doing so. She just couldn't give up, it wasn't part of her agenda.

Rakz pulled back on the knife and allowed her to grab her neck in two hooves, cupping it with exasperated breaths. Once her breathing had calmed, she opened her mouth wide to scream, only to feel the cold steel grate into her throat once more. Her mouth closed involuntarily and she lost all strength to fight him. Her mind had finally fallen to the monster, not quite accepting her fate but not fighting it either. Why fight what you could not win against? She had never lived by this before in her life but she decided now was a good time to start.

Rakz leaned in by her ear and raised the knife from her throat to her eye with a small wisp of the magic that remained, ready to kill her instantaneously if he must.

"If you scream, I swear that I will put so many bleeding holes in your head. Cooperate, and you may leave this situation with your life, what do you have to say?" Rakz said slowly with his sanity held back together as a disappointed looking Bones dissolved back into the air.

Olive took a large gulp of air before shaking her head with her hooves rubbing at the cuts on her throat. At this point, she would do anything possible to leave this room with her life still intact inside her.

"Good, so that means you won't scream, struggle, or cause me any more trouble? Or do I have to "re-evaluate" the situation?" Rakz inquired as he fiddled with the knife in both forehooves.

She shook her head slowly, comprehending fully that she had no control of how this situation may lead. It was all in Rakz's hooves, in Death's hooves one may have said at this moment.

A faint smile returned to his mouth as her action slowly moved through his eyesight, only moving this slowly as his brain had garnished the capability to receive and send information two times faster than any regular pony could. It had helped him majorly in his survival and allowed him to assess a pony's mind with every action they performed before they were even complete with it. "Good, I wouldn't want to tarnish you anymore than I already have. Else, I wouldn't be able to acquire what I desire."

Her face stiffened at this, quickly thinking that she would be raped and there was nothing she could ever do about it but lie there and take it from him. If she were to struggle, her life would end before she even knew she was stuck with a much different feeling prick. Of course, this was just how anypony survived in this world now. You just assumed everypony was out there to give you the old stick up the cahoots. Fortunately, Rakz had never felt an urge to do so and never planned on satisfying those primal urges. He only wanted one thing in this world and that was justice for everypony that had ever wrought pain on others for their own desire.

"Now, let's begin our little "Q&A" shall we. How about a simple little trial first, how does that sound to you? Would you like to start with some simple questions like what is your name is?" Rakz said as he pulled the chair by Olive's desk around and sat in it, patiently waiting for the mare to respond.

She just looked at him for a period of time before slowly nodding her head in fear of how he would react. That was good, however, as he wanted to instill fear in her. Not hope, salvation, happiness, anger, depression, or hate. Pure, instinctual fear that would force her to tell him anything and everything he wanted to know. It had always worked for him, so why would it not work now?

"Good, good, let's begin shall we? What is your name, ma'am?" Rakz asked with his best smile.

Once again, she hesitated for a long period before answering. When she did answer, it was a barely conceivable stutter. "O-Olive B-Branch,"

Rakz nodded to this, rubbing a hoof at his chin where at least a stubble of hair should have been growing unruly but never had even though he had never remembered using a razor in his entire life. Not even his mane or tail had ever grown past their current length, always maintaining the same length and width no matter how much time he gave it. It perturbed him how odd his body acted, he could never quite place it when his body had began this but he knew that it had definitely been longer than a dozen years or so.

"Okay, this is a great start, Olive. I believe if you continue like so that you will be able to leave this room in no time! Now, on to question number two. What is your eye, mane/tail, coat, and magical essence spectrum's?" Rakz asked with a kind voice, enforcing a "friendly" environment as his strength began to quickly return. Another oddity to him, as he had learned at some time that it took days for a unicorns magic to return to full strength after depleting themselves. Yet, he managed to return to his basic potential in but an hour after being depleted.

"M-my eye colour is brown, mane and t-tail are b-blonde, coat i-is orange... a-and my essence i-is green." Her stutter seemed to be dispersing with every sentence. It was obvious that she was becoming acquainted with her situation... Rakz knew that this would change instantaneously once he began the "true" Q&A.

"I'm glad to see you telling the truth... now, one last question before we truly begin. How much service time on the field do you believe you had fulfilled? And please, only combat time. I do not need to know how much time you served sitting around, that would be very quaint to my objectives for today." Rakz now sat cross-legged in the chair while rubbing at his chin with a peculiar look on his face as he examined how Olive spoke, moved, breathed, blinked, looked, any and all actions were being recorded by his massive memory.

Olive almost answered the question as soon as it was given, the truth in her words were obvious but Rakz was shocked she had known it so well. His expression stayed the same however as it must. "Roughly around 200+ hours... I had seen much blood and pain on the field. Something I'm sure you can relate to since for years every second of your life has been for survival. Am I correct, sir?" She played a grievous look but he wasn't buying it. He knew that she was attempting to play the pity card on him and he knew that she had nothing over him. Now he knew what her poker face and her bluff face was.

It was her wrong move and now it was his turn to play his cards.

He picked her up by the neck with just his two hooves alone, slamming her into the wall with enough force to actually crack the plaster on the wall. She groaned in agony from this and attempted to scream in pain but her mouth was covered in an aura of dark purple magic that began to slowly suffocate her. "You don't have shit on me! You understand this, 'cuz I'm not your little protege who had gone through the same mud as you. You haven't seen a single thing that I have in all of your life in one day of my survival." Rakz whispered in a played rage by her ear

Her fear began to reacquaint itself as she realized she had lost all control of the situation once again. She began to retaliate again but soon slowed in her attempts as air was cut off from her lungs. She could feel a deep burning sensation and began to black out when all of a sudden the vice grip on her mouth dispersed, allowing her to breathe in a large gulp of air and fight the blackness that threatened to envelop her.

"I'm going to ask you a question, Olive. No more simple questions, and I swear, if you do not answer with the truth. I will turn your body into a nightmare of pain and torment. So I'd advise that you refrain from trying to play me like a fool you snide little bitch!" Rakz enforced his point by levitating his long, slender dark blade up to her head and slamming it into the wall not but an eyelash from her face.

She shook in exasperation and fear once again as she fought to take the situation back into her hooves. Yet, a major part of her head repeatedly told her that she was going to die here and she had no power over it. "R-Rakz... p-please don't do this!" Olive begged with what appeared to Rakz to be nothing more than forced tears down her cheek. She had been given the chance to control the situation and had lost it when she played her foolish bluff. Now her life was back in his hooves and he had the chance to paint her in her own blood.

"Are you seriously commanding me at a moment like this? oh, this is just delicious. Shut up and don't talk unless I ask you a question. If you talk, I will cause great pain through you. So mind what you say or you may find your dream of escaping this room intact will be greatly diminished to a shamble of a chance." Rakz barely contained himself from screaming in the mare's ears in his attempt to spread a fear that would grip every part of her body.

"So, let's begin with our first question, shall we? It's real simple and I know you have the knowledge I want for it. Why the hay is there an order to kill me? Remember, the truth holds back the pain." He enforced this point by increasing the pressure of his hooves on her shoulders, resulting in a grunt of pain from her closed muzzle. "Come on, you can talk. Just tell me what I want to know and you won't be a blood stain on the shitty floor."

"O-okay, I'll tell you. I-I was afraid that you were going to bring Latch in somewhere we didn't know about and... and... drag information from him yourself. He k-knew too much and had to be dealt with... same as you. There was just too much at stake, don't you understand, Rakz?" Olive answered with a rising pain in her eyes as Rakz dug his hooves in further and further. She was telling the truth but he just wanted to show that she was to be quick with what she said. He did after all have to get this over with before the guards came back to figure out why it was so silent.

"Good to hear the truth... in fact, you told me even more than what I deemed you to say. The questions aren't over however, we still have more to be discussed. For instance, what was so goddesdamned important that you had to assign the entire city of Manehattan to kill me? Is it really worth that many lives?"

She hesitated before speaking, a sign that she could be telling a lie to him. "We were afraid that he would give you access to the archives and that we would lose every... ah!" a scream of pain echoed from her throat as Rakz brought her head forward and slammed it into the wall. He quickly covered her mouth with a hoof and slammed her head into the desk, splintering the wood underneath with the impact. Then the doors lock glistened in purple and it clicked shut. All of this was done due to the lie she had told, attempting to bluff him once again. He would have none of this.

"Did I not tell you to not tell a lie? Tell the goddessdamned truth right now!" He continued to whisper in her ear, hoping that the guards hadn't heard her scream but he was sure that they had indeed heard it.

"O-okay... they were sent to insure... t-that you didn't take him into custody for a reward from the RO." He saw that this too was a lie and reacted by slamming her head into the desk again, splintering it further and drawing blood from where the wood stabbed into her face. Sure enough, blood began to trickle from her mouth where blunt trauma had most likely jarred a tooth or two loose from her gums. Then he heard the sound of hooves trotting his way and knew that the guards had heard the scream, which meant it was time to go into overdrive.

"Lies, all of it! Tell me the truth or I will break your damned horn off easier than me breaking a twig with my hoof. I can guarantee that you won't be able to do much magic without a source to cast it from." He put a hoof over her horn and began to put great pressure on it until he could hear her scream in great agony. He wanted the guards to hear him now, there was no point in wasting in his energy on this filth suppressing her screams.

"Ah... p-please, stop! I-I-I-I'll tell the t-truth, just stoooooooooooooooooooop!" She howled in horrible screams as her horn began to reach the splintering point. Then the pressure was relieved slightly and she was capable of speaking without great rivers of pain filling her mind. She began to cough ruggedly, blood descending on the desk all over with every fit.

He could now hear the pounding of the guards hooves on the door as they tried to batter it down to get to him and her.

"Then tell me the truth and your horn won't fly off in dozens of irreparable shards!" Rakz yelled in a fury with his hoof over her horn, ready to snap it into shards with one stomp.

"They were sent to kill you soley. You had become an unreliable source and had to be dealt with. Latch had nothing, he was nothing more than a diversion while our teams crept up on you and painted you red." Olive yelled this at the top of her lungs, thinking that this would never reach the monster's ears. It did however; leaving a devastating blow on his mind.

What? Latch didn't know anything? Not a single scrap of info? He was nothing more than a chicken being used to lure in the wolf... and it worked. Which meant I had... murdered Latch in cold blood. There was no saving him in that, only killing him because he was a loose thread for Olive. He had most likely been offered a promotion to usurp her mad power reign... and... and I had stopped it without knowing it. I had kept the PRP from gaining a capable leader all because I could not spot the signs? What have I done?!

Olive took this chance when Rakz was thinking of his regrets to slip from his grasp. She rolled off her desk underneath and quickly grabbed the heavy caliber pistol that sat in the bottom drawer of the desk. When she rolled back from under the desk to aim up at where he was just a moment ago, she saw nothing but the chipped ceiling. Then the feeling of hooves wrapping around her neck appeared and she knew that she had once again made the wrong move. Suddenly she was thrown up and hit the ceiling with devastating force, causing her to almost black out. Her last sight was the floor speeding towards her, right before she impacted it and felt a nasty crunch through her body.

Rakz discontinued his levitation spell on the barely breathing Olive, turning to the window in front of him just as the door broke down from the guards hooves. He levitated up the desk and slammed it through the glass, shattering everywhere. His spell wasn't done yet, he intended to deal with these pesky worker bees. The glass shards were surrounded in purple before they could even fall and were shot backwards towards the guards, missing him by the tip of his hairs. He did not watch as the glass hit the guards, killing three out of the four sooner or later from main arteries being sliced open. There was no time to do that. Instead, he had already made his descent through the gaping hole in the wall when the glass had impacted the guards.

Unfortunately, this descent was over four stories high, if he had hit the ground without slowing himself down he would have died almost instantaneously. Well enough for him, he was a very skilled unicorn. His entire body was covered in a purple aura while he was falling. This only slowed him momentarily as he did not want to put any more strain on his horn. Speed was also a necessity for him if he wanted to leave this area with his life intact. When he was leveled at around 15 feet, he released the spell and hit the ground with all four hooves. Then he rolled forward and hit the wall of the alley he had descended to with all four hooves, pushing himself off of it to level himself out. He landed off the wall and galloped down the alley to the badly maintained road where drops of water began to fall.

His run took him to another alley just across from him when a loud blaring sound began to echo through the streets. Damn, they activated the alarm. Who the hay did that? I thought I had incapacitated all of the ponies in that room. He did not ponder this thought as he bolted out of the alley and stuck to the wall as he ran. Soon enough he had arrived on the road he had planned on using to leave, instilling a slight hope that he still had the chance to survive this. That was when his right hind leg exploded into a cyclone of fire and pain as a loud crack filled the wet air. He toppled on his face with a scream and looked at his leg to see it almost disconnected from its bones and sinew by what must have been a snipers bullet. Most likely a .308 by the amount of damage done to his leg.

This didn't stop him though, he wrapped the injured leg in his magic and began to gallop to the closest alley. The pain was only increased by twofold due to this, erecting a massive howl of pain from his lungs. If this continued, his escape would be halted very quickly. All of this was void to him, however, as a bullet blasted through the road just past his head. These weren't some chump shots, they knew what they were doing with those rifles. He reached the alley and jumped through it just as a round blew a chunk out of the corner of the alley. It was a close call for him but he had made it to the alley and gotten past the snipers view. Which gave him enough time to check his injury.

When he looked down at it once again, his expression was one of pain but joy as he watched a purplish light fill the wound and slowly mend it. As the bone and sinew grew back with his muscle, the chunks of debris that had caught in it were pushed out when his coat began to appear once again on his hind leg. Now that the wound was partially healed after the long minute of suffering from it doing so, his mind returned to its former topic. Of how to escape with his brains intact.

Then the sound of hooves galloping down the road filled his ears and he had no time to ponder it. He jumped to his hooves and ran down the alley, turning around its sharp curve with amazing agility and leaving the alley just as the ponies chasing him reached the alley. He began to gallop down the road but not in the straight pattern that he had before. Instead, he ran in a wavy pattern in an attempt to misguide any more snipers aims. He was glad he did so when a round impacted heavily where he had just been. The bullet would have most likely blown his head away if he had ran straight. He kept this up as he reached the next main road, 14th street he believed, as more rounds slammed into the road next to him.

He ran down it, grabbing the water, that now heavily descended, by him in his magic; and wrapped it in a circle around his body. This would help disguise him as he ran, making him a near impossible target to hit as he galloped down the road as fast as his hooves could carry him. Which was an amazing speed, as he ran past everything in a blur. The only time he stopped was when he reached the next main road, Mane street, which was over a half mile down from where he had entered 14th. This was not where he was headed though, not yet, he turned to an alley and ran down it. Stopping by a crook in the wall where wet fabric hanged out barely. The fabric was wrapped in his hooves and pulled out. He unfolded it and began to shake it clean of the filth of the alley.

When he thought it was as clean as it could be, he stripped off the bloody rags that he now wore and donned the cloak. There was a tiny prick of pride in him when he had it on, he was glad to be wearing it instead of those filthy rags that the PRP calls barding. Now, his escape from this wretched area would be much easier.

Then all of this was thrown out of his head as a series of explosions boomed through the air, sending water that was falling in every direction. He could not see them but he could hear them and knew they were close. Are they seriously bombing me? What the fuck, they want to kill me that much?! Rakz thought as the feeling of leaving this area as a burning lump at terminal velocity reached him. He was hoping it would not come to that.

When he left the alley, he was shocked to see a armoured blue vehicle with a heavy caliber machine gun drive past him. It was not alone however, five more were following it also. He was unsure of what they were doing here but he knew that they weren't his friends. Now the Royal Army is jumping in on this action? Am I just the most wanted pony that ever lived? He had wished he had not thought that, as he knew what would come with that.

"You just wish buddy ol' pal. You're too secretive to have ever had a bounty on you by the RO. By the way, you might want to run 'cuz I think that those last three jeeps noticed you when you stepped out momentarily." Bones rasped with a slight cackle afterwards

Just as it said that, one of the RO jeeps in the back stopped and began to swiftly drive backwards. The pony manning the gun on top of it turned to aim at him. "Really, what gives you that thought?" Rakz didn't give the creature time to respond as he bolted out of the alley to the door on the building to his right. He reached it just as the loud cracking of the gun filled the air, causing massive holes to appear in the road and walls next to him. He grabbed the door handle with his magic but was unable to open the door. Which meant his luck had run out and those guns were soon to turn him into Swiss cheese.

Then a rocket raced past him and impacted the very back jeep, blowing off its bumper and killing the gunner with the shrapnel of the rocket and bumper. The jeep slid to a stop and began to move forward when another rocket smacked into it from the top, blowing its innards out from the bottom and killing everypony inside. The other jeeps caught the message and quickly sped forward, missing rockets by only a few inches.

Hmm, maybe my luck is still going strong? Rakz's thought was junked as soon as bullets began to ping around him from the rooftop and behind him. He began to gallop to the building across from him as RO ponies moved up from down the street, fighting the PRP ponies on top of the buildings and attempting to shoot Rakz down. The RO ponies must have known they were going to lose but they seemed to just want to deal enough damage before bailing out on this mission. He arrived at the door of the building as the RO squad reached him, slamming to the side of the building as a PRP pony kicked the door open and began shooting buck shots out of the doorway, killing two RO ponies and wounding another.

When Rakz heard the clicking of an empty gun and saw that the RO ponies had hit cover, he spun into the doorway and grabbed the pony with the empty shotgun by the head in both forehooves and spun them to the right and left as fast as he could. A resounding crack popped from the pony and he watched as they crumpled to the ground without knowing what had just happened. He didn't wait for the body to completely hit the ground though, he spun from the body with his two black blades flashing out in magic, cutting the throats of the twelve ponies that stood in the room in a flurry of blood and gunshots. It had only been ten seconds when the bodies fell to the ground twitching in their own blood. Then the moment was distilled by the RO ponies charging in screaming with their guns bared on him.

Rakz levitated up the dying PRP ponies and used them as shields, absorbing the bullets as he galloped to the stairs and began his mad race to the top of the building. The RO ponies followed quickly, shooting repeatedly into the now dead PRP ponies that were being used as shields. Yet, when Rakz reached the next floor he found PRP ponies waiting for him and instinctively jumped over the group with his blades flashing once again. His objective was to only maim these ponies in order to relieve their attention on him and reassert it on the squad of RO ponies coming up the stairs. His planning worked as he heard the screams of the RO ponies as they met the hail of gunfire that awaited them. Still though, he had a feeling that this would not stop them.

He couldn't wait to find out if he was wrong or right. His ascent carried him to the top of the building after several more encounters with the PRP militia, maiming instead of killing them at every moment. When he finally reached the top, he opened the door and rolled to the side as a pony with a sniper rifle fired into the doorway used to reach the top. The bullet glided through the inside of a PRP pony that was attempting to chase him down, killing the pony instantly. The sniper realized what he had done and only paid heed to his action. Rakz took his opportunity to slide his blades through the ribs of the sniper, smiling as they fell into their own puddle of blood that quickly formed.

"Look who got the last laugh now, asshole. You blast my leg, I fucking kill you. That's how it works." Rakz screamed at the top of his lungs while the blades slid out of the sniper and he ran to the edge of the building to inspect where he could escape. He looked down to see a scene that had become common in this era of pony life.

There were fights all over the area where the PRP defended themselves from the massive RO assault. It appeared that it was going well for the PRP as the RO began to swiftly lose the ground they had attained. It didn't help of course that they were being fired on by the PRP from behind, in front, and above them. In fact, some were met with fire from below also. As charges went off from under the pavement, destroying jeeps or scattering the gibbets of the unlucky souls that had been standing over the charges. Some met fire from where PRP ponies had came out of the sewer grates with machine guns rattling death. There were also explosions raining all over from what looked like mortar fire. It was unclear which side was firing the mortars but it could be both as each side was receiving devastating blows from the shells. There were also fires breaking out from the explosions all over the area, setting the unfortunate in it on fire. It was a bloody sight of chaos.

"Who the hay said that war was fun?" Rakz said in disgust

He began to turn around when he felt a massive pressure underneath him, feeling it as it ripped the cement underneath him apart. The energy of this pressure, which was most likely from an explosive, sent him high into the air, spinning out of control and descending towards the ground at high enough speed to have all his bones turned into dust. The only thought that ran through his head was that he must save himself, anyway he could. As he still had unfinished business to be dealt with. He wrapped himself in an aura of magic, slowing his descent just before he smacked into the ground at near terminal velocity. Being the pony he was, he had been exercised in taking the worst of pains but this... this was not what he had ever been exercised in.

He did not black out instantly, but he felt all of his bones shatter as the ground met him with open arms of pavement. His body twitched and spasmed uncontrollably as blood foamed out of his mouth. Somewhere far away he could hear shouting and what must have been guns firing all around him. He was unsure where though as his vision began to black out with specks of red in it that must have been from where his own blood had been thrown up into his eyes. Then he felt a slight sensation of being dragged as a group of ponies surrounded him and began to shoot at the retreating RO squads. He was unsure of why he was being saved but it wouldn't matter for long as his life ebbed out faster and faster. It wouldn't be long till the void met him and pulled him into its embrace.

"I-I'm coming L-Latch..." Rakz whispered to himself with a fit of coughs racking his body, spurting up massive amounts of blood from his mouth. "I'll b-be there s-soon eno-ugh."

Then everything fell into a darkness

The fields of grass blew in the cool breeze of the crisp autumn afternoon with red, yellow, and orange leaves trailing the wind in its grace. The flowers that grew in the fields had yet to begin to wilt from the cold of the incoming winter scheduled to occur in a week. The insects and animals that skittered through the grass fields, scampered through the trees, and buzzed through the air had stopped these actions over a week ago in preparation for the oncoming winter. That did not stop the two ponies that sat in the open air of the grass fields on a checkered picnic blanket from enjoying their afternoon.

The white mare with a black mane enjoyed it the most, of course she was able to actually comprehend how beautiful this afternoon was. The grey colt with a white mane would enjoy it just as much if he wasn't nine years old and wondering why he wasn't running a mock with the friends he had just met from Ponyville two days ago.

The silence of the autumn afternoon was broken by the white mare's sweet voice. "So honey, how are you enjoying your day so far?"

The grey colt held his silence for a good while before comprehending that the gorgeous mare was speaking to him.

"Yes, mama. It's very pretty out today but..." the grey colt was saying in a small voice before choking out on his last word.

The mare nuzzled the side of the colt's head gently and told him that he could tell her anything.

"Well, its just that... where are all the animals? Are they... you know?" he colt asked fearing the answer.

The mare looked at him with a confused look but quickly understood what he was saying. "Oh no, honey, the birds are gone but not the way you think they are. They are flying South to enjoy the warmth of the sun down there then enjoy the sun that will be shining through clouds mostly. They do not do so well in the winter air." She said this with a sweet smile on her face, it was enough to make the colt break his damper mood and enjoy the autumn afternoon.

"Where's daddy?" the colt wondered why his father wasn't here to enjoy the afternoon.

"He's in the running of the leafs, he can't stay away from a good race. Especially one he has won for the past three years."

The colt wondered what it was like to run with so many ponies and be the odd one out that wins, better yet, he wondered what it was like to have every pony staring at you after you win. He would have to give it a try when he was of age to run it... which wouldn't be until he had gotten his cutiemark.

Something he had been trying to achieve with his new friends for two days straight! They had tried everything their little foal brains could comprehend, from baking and building to skating and skiing (which was quite difficult when there was no snow). It was beginning to feel like he would never get his cutiemark, he was going to be a blank flank for the rest of his life! A thought that made him angry since he would only receive more ridicule from his classmates.

"Why are you so silent all of a sudden, honey?" the mare asked in her sweet voice.

"I'm just... thinking." the colt responded.

"Thinking about what? Is something wrong?" She asked with a worried expression.

"Its just that... what if I never get my cutiemark? What if I'm a blank flank forever!?" He began to canter in a circle at the thought of this.

"This again? You'll get your cutiemark one day, honey, don't worry about it. It'll happen naturally at what you're best at."

The colt thought of what his mother said and gazed back at a memory of her and his father telling him of how they got their cutiemarks and when they got them. He remembered that his father had been the first one in his class but that his mother had been the last one in her class to acquire hers. Something the colt was learning might be his fate.

"Yeah, but I'm like one of the only ponies in my class that doesn't have their cutiemarks!" the colt yelled out with a pouty face.

"Oh, please, stop worrying about it and just let time do its work. Okay?"

"Yes, I understand."

"Good." the mare leaned in and kissed the colt on the forehead as her horn lit up in a field of sparkly blue magic.

The colt wondered why she was using magic but was interrupted as a pile of leaves fell on him in a haze of red, orange, and yellow. The colt shook his coat of leafs and then looked at the mare that was laughing at what she had just pulled off. He concentrated and scrunched up his face as he attempted to lift the small pile of leaves behind her in a field of magic.

"What are you trying to do?" the mare asked with a quizzical express as she looked around herself for anything in a field of magic.

The colt didn't respond as he wrapped a spluttering field of purple around the pile of leaves and lifted it above the ground. The mare looked at it and squeaked in delight as she comprehended that her colt had done his first act of magic voluntarily. The colt was unable to maintain the magic though and dropped the pile of leaves onto the ground with a gasp.

"Good job honey! You finally did magic!" She said excitedly as she began hopping around the colt. "You did it! You did it! You did it!"

The colt was not smiling though, he had been unable to lift the pile of leaves ten feet and dump it on his mother. Who had done the same act without even concentrating on it. Something that brought a dark rain cloud over the part of his brain that was happy. The mare saw the colt only deepen in sadness after the achievement.

"What is wrong, honey?"

The colt was about to tell her what was wrong when a loud report from a gunshot broke the silent autumn afternoon. The mare looked at where the sound had come from and frowned as she began galloping the way it had come from.

"Please don't let it be him, please Celestia don't let it be him."

"Hey, he's waking up, ma'am. Looks like the sap is still alive. Damn, I owe you ten bits, Jem." a deep throaty voice said from the darkness that began to disperse from Rakz's vision.

Rakz awoke to find himself in a sterile white room with the sound of moaning filling the room from every point. The moaning only echoed in his head, causing great pains that made him want to cradle his head. When he tried to move he found that he was unable to move his legs. He inspected his legs and found them cuffed to the floor itself. Clearly, whoever had saved him knew that they might be in danger and didn't want to risk it. He inspected the rest of the room and found that it was filled with injured ponies that moaned and moaned about the pain... all of them seeming to wear the PRP emblem of a hoof surrounded by olive branches.

"Shit..." He simply muttered as he felt a heavy presence on his forehead. He did not have to see what it was, he knew it was a gun ready to blow his brains out if he tried to resist his now believed to be captors instead of saviors.

"Shit, is right. I'd say you're in it deep right now, Rakz ol' buddy." a very familiar voice said from behind the presence on his skull was.

He looked up to see a mare's face with a smirk that didn't seem right, as if there were teeth missing in it. The only thought that ran through his head though was how he could escape this. To which his mind replied, I haven't got a clue.

"Well, Olive, it looks like you got me where you want. Why not just deal your cards now and turn me into paste?" Rakz asked, not fearing the death that he knew would come soon enough. He had learned long ago that death should not be feared but embraced.

She laughed at this, moving to his side to make her an easier view. Which meant that she wasn't holding the gun but two burly bucks that would probably pull the trigger without a moments hesitation were holding him at gunpoint. "Oh no, why would I do that? Why would I capture you when I could have just offed you when you were unconscious? Which, by the way, is incredible. You broke everything in your body and should have died right there; but somehow you were still going. We didn't even offer you any medical assistance and all of your innards healed themselves. It was possibly the grandest sight I have ever laid my eyes on. Makes me think that you really may be death itself!"

Even he seemed astounded by this, as he did not know the limitations to how far his body could regenerate. Apparently, everything could as long as he was alive. Can I even die? If I can survive that, could I survive anything? The thought scared him, he wasn't sure why but he never thought that he would trot forever through this world. He didn't even think he'd trot for longer than another year on his current path. Of course, he hid this all from her, not wanting to have her tramp his one card.

"Not death, just Death's Envoy. He'd rather not have me retire so soon when there are so many more naughty ponies out there." He said with a cool smile

Olive shook her head in disgust at this and hit him across the face with a hoof. "Shut your mouth you fool, you're not allowed to talk unless I say so. Now that we have that part covered... how about we jump to some "Q&A" as you like to call it." She said this with a sick smile, clearly intending to do to him what he did to her.

"How about we do some "shut the fuck up and make me a sandwich" time?" He was unable to laugh at his own joke as she struck him across the face again.

"I said shut up, so shut up you impudent maggot! I'd rather not deal with this right now, so let's just cut to business."

"That would be?"

She smiled at this, which only perturbed him ever more. Something seemed very off about her. "Glad you asked. See, we have someone who we don't need anymore. They've become very tiresome and I think they need a good old nap for their bones. A agent you may take a liking to... of course, if you accept the job."

He stared at her with a blank expression for a long second before breaking into a burst of laughter that lasted till she struck him once more.

"What is so funny?" She asked with an angry expression.

"You want me to work for you again when you tried to kill me and still are? Are you effing with me, 'cuz it was pretty hilarious?" He asked with tears coming from his eyes from laughter

"Oh, so you decline do you? Wonderful, then I'll just get what I want and you'll watch the world burn slowly." She said this with glee, hoping for this answer.

Rakz's face was now an expression of confusion, not understanding how that could have been the answer she wanted. "Wait, what happens if I decline?"

She perked up even more when this question was asked and leaned in to whisper into Rakz's ear. "I give in to the demands of the Princesses and give them all the info I know on the PRP. They find Command, kill all of the PRP and all who they thought supported them. Resulting in countless deaths and I get rich. While everyone is dead or dying, I live in a castle and take baths in melted down bits just for shits and giggles."

Rakz's mouth fell open at this, not realizing that if he blindly declined that the world would quite literally burn. She was forcing his hand... possibly playing a bluff. It worked though; and that's all she wanted. "Fine, If that's what you want... I guess I can't decline and leave you to murder everypony in Equestria. You win, Olive." His head drooped in defeat at these words

Olive smiled in utter glee and grabbed him by the head. "Oh, thank you very much for accepting. I promise, you won't regret it."

Somehow, he doubted this.

(Author's Note: As usual, thanks goes out to Kkat and Somber for inspiration; and to those who gave me advice on my stories. That means you, Max. And remember to comment and watch on whatever sites this is released on.)


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